Harvey relief funds moving closer
WASHINGTON — Texans have been waiting a year and a half for more than $4 billion in disaster recovery money that Congress approved after Hurricane Harvey and major floods the two years before. They’ll have to wait several months more, but the federal government finally cleared a major hurdle toward sending the cash Friday.
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department published long-awaited rules for the funding, which is meant to help brace homes and neighborhoods for future storms. It’s an incremental step — next, Texas will submit its plans for the money, which Congress appropriated in February 2018.
State leaders cheered the development, and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush said his office would get to work drafting and getting approval for a state action plan required by the new rules — a 126-page document published Friday that kicks off a process Bush estimated will take at least nine months.
The state will have to put the plan up for public comment for at least 45 days, and leaders will have to hold public hearings on the proposal. Final approval from HUD may take months longer.
“This is a positive step for all of the Texans who have been work
ing tirelessly to recover and rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s destruction,” Sen. Ted Cruz said in a statement.
Sen. John Cornyn noted in a statement that the move comes “almost two years to the day after Hurricane Harvey rampaged Texas’ coast.”
The funds “will go a long way in helping Texas communities that are continuing to rebuild from the most catastrophic natural disaster in our state’s history,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. “Working together with our federal partners, Texas will ensure that these communities are rebuilt stronger and more resilient than ever.”
The money, part of a new program aimed at improving low- and moderate-income homes and neighborhoods so they aren’t damaged in future storms, is just the latest in federal funding expected to flow to Texas after Harvey. HUD has already sent more than $5 billion to repair homes damaged in the storm, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent out more than $1.2 billion in other housing aid.
Still, Texas officials have urged HUD to hurry up with the next $4.3 billion.
“Our state’s ability to move forward on projects that will mitigate against future disasters, and the need for future federal disaster assistance, is stalled,” Cruz, Cornyn and Abbott wrote in a letter in February that was also signed by Reps. Lizzie Fletcher, Pete Olson, Al Green, Randy Weber, Sheila Jackson Lee, Michael McCaul, Sylvia Garcia, Brian Babin, Michael Cloud and Dan Crenshaw.
“Texans cannot afford to wait any longer,” they wrote.