HUD Approves $5B State Action Plan for Harvey

Nearly one year after Hurricane Harvey plagued vast areas in Texas, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development approved the state action plan for $5 billion in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to help the Lone Star State’s recovery. The natural disaster caused $125 billion in damage, the year’s most expensive calamity.

The approved plan will deliver $2.7 billion in recovery funds to areas affected by Hurricane Harvey outside of Houston and Harris County. The remaining $2.3 billion direct allocation to the city and county will be offered as future amendments to the state action plan pending submission of each entity’s local action plans. The Texas General Land Office will directly administer and supervise the following programs:

• single-family homeowner assistance – $1 billion
• buyouts and acquisitions – $275 million
• homeowner reimbursement – $100 million
• affordable rental – $250 million
• local infrastructure – $413 million
• economic revitalization – $100 million
• local, regional and state planning – $137 million

“These housing and infrastructure funds will help Texans recover and Texas communities to rebuild stronger,” Commissioner George P. Bush said in prepared remarks. “While this allocation of CDBG-DR funds is moving more quickly than previous major disaster packages, it can never be fast enough. The recovery from a storm the size of Harvey has required a Texas-sized coordinated response. For those who are still struggling, we will continue to work with our federal partners to streamline regulations and deploy recovery dollars to our affected Texas communities.”