Storm damage, flooding now merits federal aid
After heavy rainstorms swept through the Greater Houston area, damaging about 600 homes in Montgomery County, piles of water-damaged belongings still lined the streets of the Timber LakesTimber Ridge subdivision, waiting to be cleaned up.
The neighborhood just south of The Woodlands was one of the hardest hit parts of the county, with about 130 homes suffering severe flood damage.
On a sunny Wednesday morning in early May, officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were beginning the damage assessment process required for the county to qualify for financial aid from the federal government.
President Barack Obama declared the April 18 flooding a disaster in Montgomery County, bringing the number of Texas counties with federal disaster declarations up to 12.
On May 4, before the disaster declaration, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Wood-
lands, and Montgomery County officials rode along with FEMA inspectors on a brief tour of the Timber Lakes-Timber Ridge neighborhood to show their support for a disaster declaration.
At the time, residents and officials were frustrated that Montgomery County’s disaster declaration had not yet come, while Harris and other counties had been declared disasters more than a week earlier.
“Our residents have seen other areas declared (a disaster) before us and think that we’re inactive or they’re being ignored,” said Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack on May 4. “It’s taking more time than any of us would have liked to have FEMA on the ground.”
Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal said that other counties were assessed sooner because the water receded faster there than it did in Montgomery County.
One resident of Timber Lakes-Timber Ridge, Sean Thompson, allowed the officials into his one-story home to see how the flooding had impacted his family. With the bottom two feet of gypsum wallboard torn from the home and carpeting ripped up, the house was riddled with the remains of Thompson’s possessions. He said the flood had claimed his family pictures and video collection. Just to rent the fans to dry out his home and prevent it from molding had cost him $2,000 out-of-pocket, he said. He estimates that full recovery could cost him tens of thousands of dollars. And his home was not one of the hardest hit, he added.
Montgomery County Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Darren Hess said that FEMA’s initial evaluations of the areas the inspectors had visited is estimated at $3.8 million in damages. FEMA is still working to inspect all of the damaged property county-wide, he said.
“Everyone just lost so much,” Thompson said of his neighbors.
Brady said his goal was to secure financial assistance for the victims of the flood to help them get back on their feet, but also to find the funds to do what is necessary to mitigate damage from any future natural disasters.
“Having these counties added to the federal disaster declaration for individual assistance is another important step in providing much-needed resources to the families and businesses who were impacted by the storms,” Brady said in a release following the disaster declaration Monday.
FEMA will set up Disaster Recovery Centers in the county for victims to apply for aid.
The Montgomery County Commissioners Court decided to move forward with applying for a FEMA grant that would help the county buy out a number of the severely damaged homes in the areas that have been repeatedly hit by flooding.
Local community groups have taken the lead in offering assistance. Interfaith of The Woodlands, a local nonprofit organization is one of the groups coordinating assistance by providing those affected by the storm with clothing, food, water, and, in some cases, temporary housing and financial assistance.
Interfaith is accepting monetary donations as well as new undergarments, socks, shoes, nonperishable food, bottled water, baby and personal hygiene care items and household and cleaning supplies. Montgomery County officials are asking those affected by the storm to register with FEMA at disasterassistance.gov or 1-800-621-FEMA.