Funding to help communities impacted by last year’s severe flooding
WASHINGTON – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro today announced $142 million will be awarded to Texas communities for disaster recovery efforts following significant flooding in the spring of 2015 as well as last fall due to Hurricane Patricia. The funds will help to meet remaining unmet housing, economic development, and infrastructure needs that resulted from thousands of homes and small businesses being damaged or destroyed.
“After disaster strikes, the most important task is getting folks back to a safe home quickly, so they can return to their daily lives,” said Secretary Castro. “With climate change increasing the frequency and intensity of disasters, we must take every opportunity to plan better and ensure faster recovery for communities across the nation. With this $142 million disaster recovery investment, we uphold our commitment to helping these communities recover stronger and be better prepared for future disasters.”
The $142 million will be allocated to the following grantees for long-term disaster recovery efforts:
|
Grantee |
Allocation |
| Houston |
$66,560,000 |
| San Marcos |
$25,080,000 |
| State of Texas |
$50,696,000 |
|
TOTAL |
$142,336,000 |
Congress appropriated $300 million to address the unmet recovery needs in communities that were most impacted and distressed by a major flooding disaster in 2015. Communities in Texas and South Carolina, which will also receive recovery funds, were determined to have significantly higher unmet needs than jurisdictions impacted by other eligible disasters last year. With these funds, HUD is also encouraging grantees to incorporate resilience measures into their local action plans to ensure communities are more prepared for the next storm. Since Hurricane Sandy, HUD has taken significant steps to encourage resiliency planning and disaster preparedness in communities nationwide, including the $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition.
