People have asked me what we want from the Texas CDBG Disaster Rebuilding Plan that we have criticized and that HUD has asked the Governor to revise. The complete answer lies in the extensive comments that we have submitted on repeated occasions to the State of Texas and in our complaints to HUD. Here is [...]
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Tag Archives: Hurricane rebuilding
What the State of Texas must do to fix the Hurricane rebuilding plan (and what we plan to do to make sure it does)
November 23, 2009
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HUD denies Governor Perry’s Amended Recovery Plan
November 17, 2009
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On November 10, HUD Assistant Secretary Mercedes Marquez issued a letter to Governor Rick Perry denying the State of Texas’s Amendment 1 of the Action Plan for CDBG Disaster Recovery Grantees. The proposed amendment would give the state $1.7 billion in supplemental CDBG funds for Hurricane Ike Recovery. Secretary Marquez cites the State’s proposed amendment [...]
Read moreHUD should reject the State of Texas plan to misspend $3 billion in CDBG disaster recovery funds
September 25, 2009
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The State of Texas is required to submit a plan amendment to HUD by September 30 outlining its final plan for spending the $3 billion in CDBG funds earmarked for Texas for disaster recovery from hurricanes Ike and Katrina. The state’s long road to producing this plan has been plagued by false starts and reversals. [...]
Read moreGovernor orders $1.3B Hurricane recovery plan changed but fails to fix the problem
September 16, 2009
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Not surprisingly the ill-conceived “weather report plan” proposed by ORCA to divide up the federal disaster recovery dollars in Texas attracted such a firestorm of opposition that Governor Perry ordered it changed today. The weather report plan allocated funds based on wind and rain rather than damages incurred and allowed ORCA staff to shift funds [...]
Read moreHow much housing money is needed for Ike/Dolly rebuilding?
September 10, 2009
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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 of how much wind, storm surge and rain fell in a place rather than the amount of damage the area suffered. This is clearly wrong, a fact that most people now acknowledge. There is another [...]
Read moreTestimony describes absurdity of Texas hurricane disaster fund allocation plan
September 6, 2009
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Joe Higgs, organizer for Gulf Coast Interfaith, laid out clearly the problems with the proposed State of Texas plan to spend $1.3 billion in federal Hurricane Ike and Dolly CDBG rebuilding funds. His testimony was presented at the board meeting of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs on September 3, 2009. Here is [...]
Read moreHouston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey on the politics of hurricane rebuilding
September 6, 2009
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In his column today Houston Chronicle featured columnist Rick Casey speculates about why Governor Perry is allowing the Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) to so badly misallocate federal hurricane disaster rebuilding funds. Casey correctly describes ORCA’s bizarre plan to allocate $1.3 billion in disaster recovery funds not on the basis of the damage [...]
Read moreGovernor Perry’s disaster rebuilding plan is the latest disaster to strike Texas
August 8, 2009
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We share the state auditor’s concerns in a report just released about the unacceptable length of time it takes the councils of governments (COGs) and the state agencies (ORCA and TDHCA) to deliver hurricane assistance to Texas families and communities. The state auditor’s report examined the COGs’ and state agencies’ performance in managing roughly half a [...]
Read morePhotos and costs of FEMA’s temporary housing units released
July 9, 2009
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At yesterday’s hearing on the future of FEMA disaster housing before the House Homeland Security Committee the committee staff produced an interesting exhibit. It shows the various models of housing that FEMA has either purchased of is testing through the Katrina Cottage demonstration program. It is reproduced in part below. As I blogged about a [...]
Read moreGetting closer to finding out why so many Texas hurricane survivors were denied housing assistance
June 17, 2009
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The pieces are slowly coming together to answer the question, why were so many applications for FEMA housing assistance in the wake of Hurricane Ike denied by FEMA? While more than 82,000 households affected by Ike have received almost $371 million in FEMA funds for repairs, more than 730,000 families requested help from FEMA, meaning [...]
Read moreAn encouraging sign of understanding by new FEMA administrator
June 16, 2009
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I liked what I heard from new FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate in his June 9 testimony before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response. In response to a question from Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) regarding evidence that FEMA trailers cost upwards of $75,000 each, Administrator Fugate responded… Mr. Chairman, [...]
Read moreKatrina Cottage pilot program woes due to failure at all levels
June 15, 2009
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How many times do we have to hear the story before it sinks in? Let’s sum up the government response to the plight of impoverished hurricane survivors… The federal government is slow and bungling. The state government is slow and would rather spend money on economic development rather than helping poor disaster victims get back [...]
Read moreTX Legislature seeks better homes, faster repairs for hurricane survivors
June 13, 2009
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It has been almost a year since Hurricane Ike’s and Hurricane Dolly’s floodwaters rose above streets, and above doors and windows, destroying countless Texas homes and affecting the lives of an estimated one million Texans. Today, far too many homes still remain in need of repair. Amid the destruction, the agony of families, and the [...]
Read moreGalveston Long Term Recovery Plan should focus on what it takes to allow survivors to return home
June 12, 2009
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Lots of hard work has gone into the production of the Galveston Long Term Recovery Plan. The citizens behind this work are to be commended for their efforts. I carefully reviewed the housing portions of the plan and offer the following constructive criticisms. Unfortunately, as a blueprint for the reconstruction of housing, the plan falls far [...]
Read moreRental housing most vulnerable in Hurricane Ike shortchanged in reconstruction plan
June 11, 2009
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Renters and rental housing were particularly hard hit by Hurricane Ike. Yet renters and rental housing needs are being shortchanged by local officials as they make decisions on how to allocate federal CDBG dollars for hurricane rebuilding. Thanks to the research of graduate students in community and regional planning at the University of Texas at [...]
Read moreThe “Ike Dike” is no excuse for diverting money from rebuilding homes
June 11, 2009
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The June 4 issue of the Wall Street Journal reports that Houston leaders are pushing a plan to protect against future hurricanes by building a giant dike with movable barriers across Galveston Bay. The dike could easily cost in excess of $4 billion. As the Gulf Coast braces for hurricane season, Houston-area leaders are pushing [...]
Read moreHow Ike and future hurricanes impact Black households disproportionately
June 10, 2009
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African-American households reside in areas most vulnerable to hurricanes in the greater Galveston Bay area. Census tracts in which 60% or more of the population is comprised of African-American households are in the areas that were hardest hit by Hurricane Ike and remain most vulnerable to future damage in even low-grade tropical storms and category [...]
Read moreA confession: we’ve learned firsthand the reasons for disaster rebuilding delays
June 9, 2009
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I have to fess up. Having pointed out in yesterday’s blog the unacceptably slow pace of rebuilding homes destroyed in the Texas hurricanes, it’s only right that I point out the delays that we ourselves have encountered in a disaster housing rebuilding project we are associated with. We call the project Texas Grow Homes. It’s [...]
Read moreTexas home rebuilding for hurricane survivors unacceptably slow
June 8, 2009
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As we approach the four year anniversary of Hurricane Rita it’s appropriate to take stock of how well the efforts are going to help the hurricane survivors rebuild their homes. Karen and I had the opportunity to gather data and assess things in preparation for her testimony before the disaster response subcommittee of the US [...]
Read moreKaren Paup’s testimony on post hurricane housing rebuilding in Texas
June 7, 2009
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Note: Karen Paup was invited to testify before a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on post-hurricane housing disaster disaster recovery in Texas. Here are her abbreviated oral remarks. Testimony of Karen Paup, co director, Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, before the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery of the Committee on Homeland [...]
Read moreTxLIHIS Karen Paup and NLIHC Sheila Crowley testify on housing disaster recovery
March 18, 2009
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. Texas Low Income Housing Information Service co-director Karen Paup and National Low Income Housing Coalition president Sheila Crowley were among those who testified today before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee investigating the failures of the federal response to the provision of affordable housing in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and [...]
Read moreHousing advocates tell HUD that TX Disaster recovery plan fails to disclose how the money will be spent
March 4, 2009
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After reviewing the Disaster Recovery Plan that the Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) submitted to HUD the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, Texas Appleseed and Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid wrote HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan a letter pointing out that the ORCA plan did not really constitute a plan but was a [...]
Read moreTexas will be forced to ration hurricane home repair grants
January 7, 2009
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Texas should allocate the limited disaster funds so that they take care of the housing needs of Hurricane Ike/Dolly survivors as the State’s top priority and relegate funding for government programs to a lower priority. Families’ recovery should come first and government second. If even after making housing the State’s top funding priority, not enough [...]
Read moreWatch “The Old Man and the Storm” on-line
January 6, 2009
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In case you missed the broadcast, I urge you to watch the Frontline film, The Old Man and the Storm on-line. The story of the impact on real people of the incredibly frustrating efforts to rebuild their homes in the wake of the hurricane is told beautifully. This is the story of thousands of our [...]
Read moreWoman, whose fight for housing repair revealed government waste, dies in her home
December 29, 2008
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The woman who blew the whistle on fraud in the City of Houston’s home repair program, featured in a front page Houston Chronicle story Friday, was found dead in her home Sunday. Read the story of her struggle and death. It is very strange and very sad that eight years after her home was damaged [...]
Read moreHouston’s Tropical Storm Allison home repair debacle provides warning regarding Hurricane Ike funds
December 26, 2008
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The State of Texas is considering turning over administrative responsibility for $1.3 billion in Hurricane Ike rebuilding funds to local governments. A story in today’s Houston Chronicle offers an especially important warning of potential problems with the past administration of these type of funds by the local government positioned to receive the largest share of [...]
Read moreExamining claims of local effectiveness in administration of housing disaster funds
December 18, 2008
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There have been a lot of claims voiced by Councils of Governments (COGs), local officials and the Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) that there will be greater efficiencies and cost savings in allowing disaster recovery funds to be administered locally by COGs. To test the accuracy of these claims we can examine the [...]
Read moreTexas official in charge of disaster assistance refuses to state housing needs will be funded
December 16, 2008
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I predicted the process for allocating funds set out in the draft ORCA Hurricane Ike/Dolly Disaster Plan will result in a gross underfunding of the housing needs of hurricane survivors. Now we have proof that this is indeed a real possibility from the testimony of none other than the executive director of the state agency [...]
Read morePut an end to FEMA trailers by moving people quickly into permanent housing
December 15, 2008
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She says it far better than I can. We shot this interview with a woman whose home suffered major damage from Hurricane Rita. She describes the type of problems thousands of low income Texas families have encountered trying to get their homes repaired working with FEMA. [BTW - her house is still not repaired today, [...]
Read moreMy suggestions for a Texas disaster housing program
December 14, 2008
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In developing a plan to help Texas survivors of Hurricanes Ike and Dolly rebuild their homes I believe the starting point should be the existing Hurricane Rita housing program operated by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). For the reasons I detailed in earlier blog entries, I strongly feel that the basic [...]
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- Mitt Romney at private fundraiser: I might eliminate HUD – The Washington Post
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Bo’s housing news clips: Study finds zoning segregates lower-income students in lower-scoring schools.
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Texas LIHTC housing program rocked by second earthquake in two months
- Low-Income Housing Program Compels Building in Poor Texas Areas – NYTimes.com
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Bo’s housing news clips: National home foreclosures and Galveston housing woes are top stories in recent weeks
