Hurricane Harvey Recovery Efforts

RTA staff and management would like to share important information pertaining to recovery efforts within communities in Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey.

As we enter the period of recovery in our communities, there is some important information pertaining to local governments, businesses, and local residents, that H-GAC's partners at the Texas General Land Office would like you to be aware of:

• Track and document all electrical outages, direct damage to infrastructure (streets, water, sewer, etc.) and displacement of your citizens (usage of shelters, etc.).
• Your thorough documentation will not only help you receive short-term funds through FEMA and other resources, but will also help inform our agency as we work with Congress to appropriate Community Develop Block Grants - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for long-term recovery.
• CDBG-DR funds, administered by the Texas General Land Office, can be used as the 25% match for FEMA funds as well as build back strong where FEMA funds cannot.  these funds, through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, through a special appropriation from Congress, can take as long as 24 months following the disaster to get to Texas.

To assist in your recovery efforts, here is a short checklist to ensure your community gets each and every dollar that they deserve, and as an additional reminder, make sure any recovery related procurements follow standards as outlined in the Federal Register, 2 CFR 200.318-326 and all applicable CDBG-DR regulations.  Federal funds may be contingent on following these standards.

H-GAC stands ready to help you and your community.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION from the Houston-Galveston Area Council in conjunction with the Texas General Land Office.