Texas needs to do this before next disaster

3 storms helped shape policies, and now the state must ensure that aid, cash are distributed fairly in the future

As national remembrances around the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina fade into the background, Texas reflects on three hurricanes that devastated lives and communities in Texas — Rita, which struck less than a month after Katrina in 2005, and Dolly and Ike in 2008. We, too, struggled to rebuild whole neighborhoods, and shared a unique sense of empathy with Katrina survivors as we watched their communities engage in a process that became all too familiar here at home.

In the days that immediately followed Katrina, media stories and graphic pictures served to foreshadow what Texans (and much later the survivors of Sandy) would soon learn firsthand: Natural disasters reveal and highlight systemic inequities in housing and infrastructure driven by historical patterns of public spending and investment. In other words: the failure to equitably invest in communities means that the poor, people of color and people with disabilities often live in neighborhoods most vulnerable to flooding and damage caused by hurricanes, and have the most difficulty recovering. This is not simply a matter of opinion: Texas-based studies prove this as a matter of scientific certainty.

Thankfully, with a little prodding, Texas took this lesson to heart and made some critical changes in the distribution of disaster funds that we should take time to reflect on before the next disaster strikes. In 2010, the state entered into a landmark agreement with Texas Appleseed and Texas Low Income Housing Information Service that ensured that the $3 billion in federal funds appropriated for recovery in the aftermath of Ike and Dolly would be spent in accordance with federal fair housing laws.

This agreement meant that the Texas communities that were hardest-hit got their fair share of these dollars. Statewide, it shifted more than $150 million away from projects that stood to benefit only a few, and into funding for projects identified by low- and moderate-income households and communities themselves. Housing is being rebuilt in safer neighborhoods that give families more access to jobs and good schools.

And that funding wasn’t just for housing; it also targeted infrastructure projects in communities that desperately needed those investments. In the Rio Grande Valley, colonias, where poor drainage resulted in weeks and even months of standing water post-Dolly, were the focus of funding for drainage projects, as well as housing. In Houston, infrastructure funding was moved to low-income minority neighborhoods where inadequate open-ditch drainage has resulted in repeat flooding. This means that if another hurricane strikes, better infrastructure should mitigate flooding, minimizing damage to communities and homes — homes that Texas has just spent millions of dollars rebuilding. Smart policy makes for sound investments.

What Texas has learned over the last 10 years is clear: Done well, the disaster recovery process emphasizes the needs of populations most affected by the disaster and results in recovery for the whole community. Done poorly, it shortchanges actual recovery needs and results in delay, waste of funds, lack of accountability and prolonged displacement and hardship for families and communities. Done inequitably, it runs afoul of federal civil rights laws, and worsens the unequal conditions that are a legacy of historic discrimination and segregation.

So what does Texas need to think about before the next disaster hits? We need to build on the knowledge we’ve gleaned throughout the recovery process and engage in pre-disaster planning that carefully evaluates what worked and what fell short in prior responses. There should be an objective formula for funding so that the money goes to the hardest-hit areas, and doesn’t get caught in political gamesmanship. And we should make sure that equity is a fundamental part of the measure for any planning process.

But the truth is that we shouldn’t wait for a hurricane to look at where we can rectify inequities that resulted from inadequate funding for historically neglected neighborhoods. Because waiting until disaster strikes is the worst time to realize that we’ve underinvested in critical infrastructure and housing in any Texas community.

Years of research underscores what too many Texans know from experience: When it comes to good outcomes for families and children, where you live matters. And for that reason, Texas ought to prioritize equity when it comes to infrastructure and housing investment — and make sure that access to opportunity is not simply a measure of your ZIP code.

Natural disasters reveal and highlight systemic inequities in housing and infrastructure driven by historical patterns of ... investment.