People have asked me what we want from the Texas CDBG Disaster Rebuilding Plan that we have criticized and that…
Category: Disaster Recovery
From preparedness, planning, and equity to rebuilding and mitigation, disaster recovery encompasses issues deeply important to the rehabilitation and recovery of low-income communities living in disaster-prone areas in Texas.
HUD denies Governor Perry’s Amended Recovery Plan
On November 10, HUD Assistant Secretary Mercedes Marquez issued a letter to Governor Rick Perry denying the State of Texas’s…
HUD Rejects State of Texas CDBG Disaster Recovery Plan
HUD has rejected the State of Texas Plan to spend $1.7 billion in CDBG disaster recovery funds for Hurricane Dolly…
HUD should reject the State of Texas plan to misspend $3 billion in CDBG disaster recovery funds
The State of Texas is required to submit a plan amendment to HUD by September 30 outlining its final plan…
Governor orders $1.3B Hurricane recovery plan changed but fails to fix the problem
Not surprisingly the ill-conceived “weather report plan” proposed by ORCA to divide up the federal disaster recovery dollars in Texas…
How much housing money is needed for Ike/Dolly rebuilding?
ORCA has proposed to allocate the remaining $1.3 billion of the $3,057,991,440 in Ike/Dolly CDBG rebuilding funds based on a model…
Testimony describes absurdity of Texas hurricane disaster fund allocation plan
Joe Higgs, organizer for Gulf Coast Interfaith, laid out clearly the problems with the proposed State of Texas plan to…
Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey on the politics of hurricane rebuilding
In his column today Houston Chronicle featured columnist Rick Casey speculates about why Governor Perry is allowing the Texas Office…
ORCA’s public hearing for $1.7 billion disaster relief program crashes
Today’s web based public hearing conducted by ORCA to accept public testimony on the $1.7 billion Hurricane Ike/Dolly CDBG Disaster…
Federal court orders FEMA to reconsider denial of home repairs to Hurricane Dolly survivors
Good news for the low income Hurricane Dolly survivors who were denied home repairs by FEMA! The United States District…
Governor Perry’s disaster rebuilding plan is the latest disaster to strike Texas
We share the state auditor’s concerns in a report just released about the unacceptable length of time it takes the…
Photos and costs of FEMA’s temporary housing units released
At yesterday’s hearing on the future of FEMA disaster housing before the House Homeland Security Committee the committee staff produced…
Getting closer to finding out why so many Texas hurricane survivors were denied housing assistance
The pieces are slowly coming together to answer the question, why were so many applications for FEMA housing assistance in…
An encouraging sign of understanding by new FEMA administrator
I liked what I heard from new FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate in his June 9 testimony before the House Homeland…
Katrina Cottage pilot program woes due to failure at all levels
How many times do we have to hear the story before it sinks in? Let’s sum up the government response…
TX Legislature seeks better homes, faster repairs for hurricane survivors
It has been almost a year since Hurricane Ike’s and Hurricane Dolly’s floodwaters rose above streets, and above doors and…
Galveston Long Term Recovery Plan should focus on what it takes to allow survivors to return home
Lots of hard work has gone into the production of the Galveston Long Term Recovery Plan. The citizens behind this…
Rental housing most vulnerable in Hurricane Ike shortchanged in reconstruction plan
Renters and rental housing were particularly hard hit by Hurricane Ike. Yet renters and rental housing needs are being shortchanged…
The “Ike Dike” is no excuse for diverting money from rebuilding homes
The June 4 issue of the Wall Street Journal reports that Houston leaders are pushing a plan to protect against…
How Ike and future hurricanes impact Black households disproportionately
African-American households reside in areas most vulnerable to hurricanes in the greater Galveston Bay area. Census tracts in which 60%…
A confession: we’ve learned firsthand the reasons for disaster rebuilding delays
I have to fess up. Having pointed out in yesterday’s blog the unacceptably slow pace of rebuilding homes destroyed in…
Texas home rebuilding for hurricane survivors unacceptably slow
As we approach the four year anniversary of Hurricane Rita it’s appropriate to take stock of how well the efforts…
Karen Paup’s testimony on post hurricane housing rebuilding in Texas
Note: Karen Paup was invited to testify before a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on post-hurricane housing disaster…
TxLIHIS Karen Paup and NLIHC Sheila Crowley testify on housing disaster recovery
. Texas Low Income Housing Information Service co-director Karen Paup and National Low Income Housing Coalition president Sheila Crowley were…
Housing advocates tell HUD that TX Disaster recovery plan fails to disclose how the money will be spent
After reviewing the Disaster Recovery Plan that the Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) submitted to HUD the Texas…
A failed housing program will always come back and bite the responsible entity
One had to feel sorry for Michael Gerber Thursday morning. Appearing before a subcommittee of the Texas House Appropriations Committee…
Texas will be forced to ration hurricane home repair grants
Texas should allocate the limited disaster funds so that they take care of the housing needs of Hurricane Ike/Dolly survivors…
Watch “The Old Man and the Storm” on-line
In case you missed the broadcast, I urge you to watch the Frontline film, The Old Man and the Storm…
PBS film documements role of race, class and politics in rebuilding hurricane damaged homes
Watch the trailer for the PBS Frontline film, “The Old Man and the Storm.” Several of President Bush’s top aides…
Governor Perry must act to let hurricane victims move into apartments
More than half of 5,000 Galveston County families displaced by Hurricane Ike and given federal vouchers to rent homes or…