$31.3 million to help communities in Lone Star State to rebuild from 2011 wildfires
WASHINGTON, DC – September 11, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced the approval of the State of Texas’ disaster recovery plan totaling $31.3 million in emergency aid to help several communities throughout the Lone Star State to recover from last year’s devastating wildfires. With the acceptance of this disaster plan, the real work of long-term disaster recovery throughout the State can now begin.
Provided through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, these grants will support long-term disaster recovery efforts in local communities devastated by last year’s disasters.
“Now that this plan is in place, it’s time to get down to the real business of rebuilding the housing and infrastructure damaged by last year’s wildfires,” said Mark Brezina, HUD’s Acting Regional Administrator. “The General Land Office can now begin to implement its plan to make neighborhoods in these impacted areas whole again.”
On November 18, 2011, Congress appropriated $300 million in CDBG funds to support long-term disaster recovery in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major disaster in 2011 (Public Law 112-55). Concurrently, Congress gave HUD the authority to allocate up to an additional $100 million for the recovery efforts. Secretary Shaun Donovan exercised HUD’s full authority by targeting the maximum amount of CDBG funding allowed toward helping these most impacted state and local areas.
These funds are intended to confront unmet housing, business and infrastructure needs beyond those addressed by other forms of public and private assistance. Using a combination of federal data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA), HUD identified those states and local communities most impacted and requiring the greatest assistance to recover due to the devastating tornadoes in the Southeast and Missouri; the remnants of Hurricanes Irene and Lee in the Northeast and New England; severe flooding in parts of North Dakota; and destructive wildfires in Texas.
Earlier this year, HUD allocated $31,319,686 to the State of Texas which will largely target these resources to Bastrop County which suffered the greatest extent of damage and destruction from a series of wildfires that occurred from late summer through the autumn. For more information, read the State’s disaster recovery plan.
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Contact:
Brian Sullivan
(202) 402-7527
