This is the story of a Vietnam veteran and former police officer who has lived in Elm Grove for more than 25 years. John Hulon’s troubles started when he was laid off from his job after brain surgery. Then he had a stroke. Followed by a heart attack. After being forced into retirement, he discontinued his flood insurance to save money. Then he flooded. Twice. John spent his life savings to restore his home and replace two vehicles. Now, a planned mitigation project that could protect his home from future flooding has become a political football. Regardless, he focuses fondly on his neighbors and the 12 volunteers from Second Baptist Church who helped him in his darkest hours.
Interview with John Hulon
Rehak: How badly did the 2019 floods affect you?
Hulon: We lost everything.
Gutting the Hulon Residence after May Flood
Rehak: Why did you buy your house in this neighborhood?
Hulon: We always wanted to buy a house. So, we started looking around. A real-estate lady, who was an ex-Marine, took good care of us and showed us some homes.
You can tell immediately as you walk in a house if you like it. My wife fell in love with this one instantly. And then the real estate agent opened the curtains and we saw the home had a swimming pool. That was the icing on the cake. So, we bought it. And we’re still in love with it.
No Flood Insurance
Rehak: Did you pay off the mortgage before it flooded?
Hulon: Yes.
Rehak: Is that why you didn’t have flood insurance?
Hulon: Flood insurance was a condition of the mortgage. But after paying the mortgage off, I dropped the insurance because, in the history of Elm Grove, it had never flooded here. And at that point, all we had was Social Security and military retirement. I couldn’t afford the insurance anymore.
Swollen doors and waterlogged studs.
High School Graduation Trip…to Vietnam
Rehak: What branch of the military were you in?
Hulon: Air Force. In security.
Rehak: Was that back during Vietnam?
Hulon: Yeah, for my high school graduation trip, I went to Vietnam.
You could say I grew up over there. I went when I was eighteen. In 1967.
Rehak: How long were you in the Air Force?
Hulon: Twenty years. I retired in 1987.
Preserving the Uniform. The Army uniform belonged to Hulon’s father. He died of Agent Orange after serving in WWII, Korea and VietNam where he was also wounded.
Rehak: Were you in combat?
Hulon: Minor. Mostly I guarded airplanes.
Switch to Law Enforcement
Rehak: What did you do when you came back?
Hulon: I was stationed at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. And then I got out of the Air Force for a while after initially serving four years and went back to Louisiana, where my parents lived. I got a job as a city policeman in Leesville, Louisiana. And while there, I met an Air Force recruiter. He persuaded me to rejoin the Air Force. I told him I’d rejoin if he could get me changed from security to law enforcement, which he did. Then after I got out of the Air Force the second time, I started working in retail as a loss prevention manager. And later in IT.
Loss Prevention Manager Who Lost Everything
Rehak: Loss prevention! That makes a good transition to Elm Grove. You lived there for decades. Did you flood in May or just in September of 2019?
Hulon: I flooded in both. In the first flood, we only had to tear out half the walls. But we also had to buy all new furniture, new beds, new everything. We’d just finished that when it flooded again in September.
Rehak: How much of the house did you have restored before it flooded again?
Heirlooms lost to sediment-laden floodwater
Hulon: Walls and floors. We were in the process of repairing the cabinets. We had brand new cabinets before the first flood and they’re still here. They were still usable after the first flood. But after the second flood, they wouldn’t close. They still need to be redone, but we haven’t redone them yet.
Rehak: Will you tell me a little bit about your medical history.
“I Died in the Back of That Ambulance”
Hulon: I was sitting at my desk working and I started feeling really funny and I knew something was wrong. My co-workers wanted to call an ambulance. But instead I drove my truck home. My wife and daughter were going to take me to the hospital. But we only got to the end of the street before they had to turn around. They called 911. By the time the ambulance came, I was pretty much out of it. They put me on the stretcher.
In my mind, I died in the back of that ambulance.
John Hulon
Rehak: Why do you say that?
Hulon: I had an out-of-body experience.I was actually looking down at myself from above somewhere while they worked on me. When I got to the hospital, they did a brain scan and thought I had cancer. Turned out it was an abscess. The surgeon told me, “I just barely touched it and it popped.” So, I’m very lucky. They did the surgery and I stayed in the hospital for about two months.
Stroke and Heart Attack
Rehak: And then?
Hulon: Then I had a stroke.
Rehak: When did you have your heart attack, John?
Hulon: About two years ago. After Harvey.
Rehak: What triggered that?
Hulon: I don’t really know. I was just sitting watching TV when I started feeling funny and had a lot of pain in my back. It wasn’t normal. I was injured pretty bad in Vietnam. So, I’m used to back pain, but not like this. I laid down on the couch and I knew something was wrong. I called 911. They came and said I was having a heart attack.
Rehak: Did you need a bypass or a stent?
Hulon: No, they just put me on a blood thinner and some blood pressure medication.
Floods Used up Entire Life Savings
Rehak: Rebuilding your house twice must have cut into your life savings.
Hulon: Used up every penny of it. Everything had to be redone. Everything. In the first flood, they only had to go up about four feet on the sheetrock. But in the second flood, they had to replace everything up to the ceiling, all rooms.
Rehak: How far are you from the Perry site?
Hulon: About three blocks.
Rehak: Did the water come from that direction?
Hulon: Yes, through yards and down the street.
Rehak: Was it clear or a muddy?
Hulon: Very muddy.
Dog encounters glove
Rehak: Was there a current going down the street?
Hulon: The water was flowing like a river.
“This is What I Could Do in My Life”
Rehak: What went through your mind as the water came up?
Hulon: I said to myself, “Look at everything we’ve built 40 years of marriage on!” Believe it or not, I was very calm at the time. I just said, “This is what I could do in my life.”
Paid Contractor Up Front for Work Not Completed
Rehak: Were you able to find a good contractor?
Hulon: We found one that wanted $5000 upfront. They did 90 percent of the work and never showed up again.
Rehak: So sad.
Thinks About Volunteers from Second Baptist All the Time
Hulon: Yeah, but, you know, before that, volunteers from the Second Baptist Church came over. They’re great people there. They sent 12 people to our house when my daughter called. They stripped the walls for us. Wow. They were in and out in like a couple of hours, men and women. And I was so impressed.
Rehak: Incredible.
Hulon: And they kept coming back for a month after that. Every day. They brought us hot meals!
Rehak: That’s amazing.
I think about their kindness all of the time.
John Hulon
Rehak: This was such a beautiful neighborhood before it flooded.
“These Were All Nice Houses Out Here”
Hulon: It still is, considering all the devastation. People on the internet talk about how this area is so poorly maintained. That’s a bunch of crap. These were all nice houses out here.
“We lost everything.”
Rehak: What do you hope will happen at this point?
Hulon: I hope we can recover some of our life savings and complete the work that we still need to do. I’m not getting any younger. We just need a little cash. I don’t want to leave my wife with nothing.
“It Would Probably Kill Me”
Rehak: How do you feel about having invested your life savings in restoring a house that may flood again?
Hulon: (Choking up)I don’t know. If we flood again, I’ll probably move to Louisiana and live with my sister. Jesus, I can’t live through that again, I’ve got flood insurance now, but I don’t, I don’t, I don’t know. I’ll probably move to Louisiana. I don’t want to. But I don’t think I could take another flood. I mean, it would probably kill me.
Everybody Helping Everybody
Rehak: Is there anything else you want to tell me, John?
Hulon: How our little neighborhood came together. I mean, it was just amazing. Everybody on the street was just like family. Everybody was helping everybody. But of course, all of Kingwood is that way. That’s what makes this such a great community.
Posted by Bob Rehak on August 07, 2020
1074 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 323 Since Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/received_391741088178196.jpg?fit=670%2C1200&ssl=11200670adminadmin2020-08-07 13:31:242020-08-07 16:25:00The Long, Hard Road from Vietnam to Elm Grove for John Hulon
After predicting that the 2020 hurricane season would be slightly above average earlier in the year, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) now predicts the season will be extremely active. An NHC outlook released Thursday indicates this season could almost double the average.
NHC predicts 19 to 25 named storms, though they do not predict how many will make landfall. Of those, NHC also predicts 7 to 11 will become hurricanes and 3 to 6 will become major hurricanes.
Historically, only two named storms form on average by early August, and the ninth named storm typically does not form until October 4. An average season produces 12 named storms, including six hurricanes of which three become major hurricanes (Category 3, 4, or 5).
Factors Behind Change
Current oceanic and atmospheric conditions that make an “extremely active” hurricane season possible are:
Warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea
Reduced vertical wind shear
Weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds
An enhanced west African monsoon
Ongoing warm phase of the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation, which reappeared in 1995 and has been favoring more active hurricane seasons since that time.
Another contributing climate factor this year is the possibility of La Nina developing in the months ahead. Indicative of cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean, La Nina can further weaken the wind shear over the Atlantic Basin, allowing storms to develop and intensify.
Underscores Need for Preparedness
Said Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., acting NOAA administrator. “It is now more important than ever to stay informed with our forecasts, have a preparedness plan, and heed guidance from local emergency management officials.”
“This is one of the most active seasonal forecasts that NOAA has produced in its 22-year history of hurricane outlooks,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “We encourage all Americans to do their part by getting prepared, remaining vigilant, and being ready to take action when necessary.”
Stay tuned to the National Hurricane Center for the latest about tropical storm and hurricane activity in the Atlantic.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/7/2020 based on predictions by the NHC
1074 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GRAPHIC-UPDATE-2020-Hurricane-Outlook-piechart-080320-3840x2388_0.jpg?fit=1200%2C742&ssl=17421200adminadmin2020-08-06 18:38:162020-08-06 18:46:38National Hurricane Center Increases Prediction for 2020
This morning in a special meeting, Harris County Commissioners debated whether to raise taxes BEFORE they had a certified appraisal from the Harris County Appraisal District.
They chose to take no action for the time being.
Request by Budget Director
The first agenda item said, “Request by Budget Management for discussion and determination if the Court would like (1) to proceed with initial consideration of proposed property tax rates based on the July 24th Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) estimate or (2) to take no action and wait to propose rates based on the Certified Appraisal Roll expected from HCAD in late August.
Commissioners Chose Option 2
The commissioners chose option 2, i.e., to take no action. Much of the debate had to do with accuracy. The budget director outlined several different scenarios that called for different levels of tax increases. One even was based on holding the tax rate constant.
But at least one scenario called for a tax increase that would have required voter approval in November. Getting the increase on the ballot, however, would have required making a decision before August 18 and the completion of the certified appraisal.
The agenda item refers to “late August” for the completion of the certified appraisal. Those concerned about a potential tax increase should watch the calendar for the Harris County Commissioners Court.
A portion of the debate and one call-in comment focused on the economic hardships that people are laboring under right now. The owner of a Chinese restaurant downtown said that her business was only 30% of the normal level. She and her family have been in business for more than 50 years. She said that they might not even be able to make their current tax payments and also said that she could not handle an increase.
This argument set the tone for the discussion. Several commissioners frequently eat at the restaurant.
At the end of the day, the commissioners voted not to take any action until they knew exactly what the tax base was. They feared raising the taxes too much or too little.
The County has not yet published the different budget scenarios considered in the meeting.
County Will Fight to Include Non-Citizens in Population Counts
The second agenda item stated: “Request by the County Attorney for authorization to file on behalf of the County friend of the court briefs and join in existing/future litigation that challenges federal efforts to exclude non-citizens in population counts when legislative boundaries are redrawn and to further authorize the County Attorney to engage Special Counsel at no cost to the County.”
A majority of the Court voted to approve this. It means the county will fight to include non-citizens in official census counts. That means, when legislative districts are redrawn (which they are after every census), Texas could wind up with more representatives in Congress rather than less. It also means that the composition of the congressional delegation could shift.
Uncertainty Surrounds Estimates of Non-Citizens
No one knows with certainty at this instant how many non-citizens live in Harris County.
So if the Migration Policy Institute estimate is correct, AND if Harris County is successful, the inclusion of non-citizens won’t be enough to create a new district. However, it will shift some boundaries.
The Texas Secretary of State estimates that as many as 100,000 residents statewide many not have attained citizenship. However, officials are skeptical of the estimates. They are based on the number of people who did not have citizenship when they applied for drivers’ licenses. Many may have attained citizenship after applying for the licenses.
So no one really knows at this point how the inclusion of non-citizens could affect congressional boundaries.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/6/2020
1073 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Agenda-8.6.20.jpg?fit=1200%2C796&ssl=17961200adminadmin2020-08-06 13:32:092020-08-06 13:32:21Harris County Commissioners Vote to Take No Action on Raising Taxes at This Time
The Long, Hard Road from Vietnam to Elm Grove for John Hulon
This is the story of a Vietnam veteran and former police officer who has lived in Elm Grove for more than 25 years. John Hulon’s troubles started when he was laid off from his job after brain surgery. Then he had a stroke. Followed by a heart attack. After being forced into retirement, he discontinued his flood insurance to save money. Then he flooded. Twice. John spent his life savings to restore his home and replace two vehicles. Now, a planned mitigation project that could protect his home from future flooding has become a political football. Regardless, he focuses fondly on his neighbors and the 12 volunteers from Second Baptist Church who helped him in his darkest hours.
Interview with John Hulon
Rehak: How badly did the 2019 floods affect you?
Hulon: We lost everything.
Rehak: Why did you buy your house in this neighborhood?
Hulon: We always wanted to buy a house. So, we started looking around. A real-estate lady, who was an ex-Marine, took good care of us and showed us some homes.
You can tell immediately as you walk in a house if you like it. My wife fell in love with this one instantly. And then the real estate agent opened the curtains and we saw the home had a swimming pool. That was the icing on the cake. So, we bought it. And we’re still in love with it.
No Flood Insurance
Rehak: Did you pay off the mortgage before it flooded?
Hulon: Yes.
Rehak: Is that why you didn’t have flood insurance?
Hulon: Flood insurance was a condition of the mortgage. But after paying the mortgage off, I dropped the insurance because, in the history of Elm Grove, it had never flooded here. And at that point, all we had was Social Security and military retirement. I couldn’t afford the insurance anymore.
High School Graduation Trip…to Vietnam
Rehak: What branch of the military were you in?
Hulon: Air Force. In security.
Rehak: Was that back during Vietnam?
You could say I grew up over there. I went when I was eighteen. In 1967.
Rehak: How long were you in the Air Force?
Hulon: Twenty years. I retired in 1987.
Rehak: Were you in combat?
Hulon: Minor. Mostly I guarded airplanes.
Switch to Law Enforcement
Rehak: What did you do when you came back?
Hulon: I was stationed at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. And then I got out of the Air Force for a while after initially serving four years and went back to Louisiana, where my parents lived. I got a job as a city policeman in Leesville, Louisiana. And while there, I met an Air Force recruiter. He persuaded me to rejoin the Air Force. I told him I’d rejoin if he could get me changed from security to law enforcement, which he did. Then after I got out of the Air Force the second time, I started working in retail as a loss prevention manager. And later in IT.
Loss Prevention Manager Who Lost Everything
Rehak: Loss prevention! That makes a good transition to Elm Grove. You lived there for decades. Did you flood in May or just in September of 2019?
Hulon: I flooded in both. In the first flood, we only had to tear out half the walls. But we also had to buy all new furniture, new beds, new everything. We’d just finished that when it flooded again in September.
Rehak: How much of the house did you have restored before it flooded again?
Hulon: Walls and floors. We were in the process of repairing the cabinets. We had brand new cabinets before the first flood and they’re still here. They were still usable after the first flood. But after the second flood, they wouldn’t close. They still need to be redone, but we haven’t redone them yet.
Rehak: Will you tell me a little bit about your medical history.
“I Died in the Back of That Ambulance”
Hulon: I was sitting at my desk working and I started feeling really funny and I knew something was wrong. My co-workers wanted to call an ambulance. But instead I drove my truck home. My wife and daughter were going to take me to the hospital. But we only got to the end of the street before they had to turn around. They called 911. By the time the ambulance came, I was pretty much out of it. They put me on the stretcher.
Rehak: Why do you say that?
Hulon: I had an out-of-body experience. I was actually looking down at myself from above somewhere while they worked on me. When I got to the hospital, they did a brain scan and thought I had cancer. Turned out it was an abscess. The surgeon told me, “I just barely touched it and it popped.” So, I’m very lucky. They did the surgery and I stayed in the hospital for about two months.
Stroke and Heart Attack
Rehak: And then?
Hulon: Then I had a stroke.
Rehak: When did you have your heart attack, John?
Hulon: About two years ago. After Harvey.
Rehak: What triggered that?
Hulon: I don’t really know. I was just sitting watching TV when I started feeling funny and had a lot of pain in my back. It wasn’t normal. I was injured pretty bad in Vietnam. So, I’m used to back pain, but not like this. I laid down on the couch and I knew something was wrong. I called 911. They came and said I was having a heart attack.
Rehak: Did you need a bypass or a stent?
Hulon: No, they just put me on a blood thinner and some blood pressure medication.
Floods Used up Entire Life Savings
Rehak: Rebuilding your house twice must have cut into your life savings.
Hulon: Used up every penny of it. Everything had to be redone. Everything. In the first flood, they only had to go up about four feet on the sheetrock. But in the second flood, they had to replace everything up to the ceiling, all rooms.
Rehak: How far are you from the Perry site?
Hulon: About three blocks.
Rehak: Did the water come from that direction?
Hulon: Yes, through yards and down the street.
Rehak: Was it clear or a muddy?
Hulon: Very muddy.
Rehak: Was there a current going down the street?
Hulon: The water was flowing like a river.
“This is What I Could Do in My Life”
Rehak: What went through your mind as the water came up?
Hulon: I said to myself, “Look at everything we’ve built 40 years of marriage on!” Believe it or not, I was very calm at the time. I just said, “This is what I could do in my life.”
Paid Contractor Up Front for Work Not Completed
Rehak: Were you able to find a good contractor?
Hulon: We found one that wanted $5000 upfront. They did 90 percent of the work and never showed up again.
Rehak: So sad.
Thinks About Volunteers from Second Baptist All the Time
Hulon: Yeah, but, you know, before that, volunteers from the Second Baptist Church came over. They’re great people there. They sent 12 people to our house when my daughter called. They stripped the walls for us. Wow. They were in and out in like a couple of hours, men and women. And I was so impressed.
Rehak: Incredible.
Hulon: And they kept coming back for a month after that. Every day. They brought us hot meals!
Rehak: That’s amazing.
Rehak: This was such a beautiful neighborhood before it flooded.
“These Were All Nice Houses Out Here”
Hulon: It still is, considering all the devastation. People on the internet talk about how this area is so poorly maintained. That’s a bunch of crap. These were all nice houses out here.
Rehak: What do you hope will happen at this point?
Hulon: I hope we can recover some of our life savings and complete the work that we still need to do. I’m not getting any younger. We just need a little cash. I don’t want to leave my wife with nothing.
“It Would Probably Kill Me”
Rehak: How do you feel about having invested your life savings in restoring a house that may flood again?
Hulon: (Choking up) I don’t know. If we flood again, I’ll probably move to Louisiana and live with my sister. Jesus, I can’t live through that again, I’ve got flood insurance now, but I don’t, I don’t, I don’t know. I’ll probably move to Louisiana. I don’t want to. But I don’t think I could take another flood. I mean, it would probably kill me.
Everybody Helping Everybody
Rehak: Is there anything else you want to tell me, John?
Hulon: How our little neighborhood came together. I mean, it was just amazing. Everybody on the street was just like family. Everybody was helping everybody. But of course, all of Kingwood is that way. That’s what makes this such a great community.
Posted by Bob Rehak on August 07, 2020
1074 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 323 Since Imelda
National Hurricane Center Increases Prediction for 2020
After predicting that the 2020 hurricane season would be slightly above average earlier in the year, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) now predicts the season will be extremely active. An NHC outlook released Thursday indicates this season could almost double the average.
NHC predicts 19 to 25 named storms, though they do not predict how many will make landfall. Of those, NHC also predicts 7 to 11 will become hurricanes and 3 to 6 will become major hurricanes.
Historically, only two named storms form on average by early August, and the ninth named storm typically does not form until October 4. An average season produces 12 named storms, including six hurricanes of which three become major hurricanes (Category 3, 4, or 5).
Factors Behind Change
Current oceanic and atmospheric conditions that make an “extremely active” hurricane season possible are:
Another contributing climate factor this year is the possibility of La Nina developing in the months ahead. Indicative of cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean, La Nina can further weaken the wind shear over the Atlantic Basin, allowing storms to develop and intensify.
Underscores Need for Preparedness
Said Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., acting NOAA administrator. “It is now more important than ever to stay informed with our forecasts, have a preparedness plan, and heed guidance from local emergency management officials.”
“This is one of the most active seasonal forecasts that NOAA has produced in its 22-year history of hurricane outlooks,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “We encourage all Americans to do their part by getting prepared, remaining vigilant, and being ready to take action when necessary.”
Stay tuned to the National Hurricane Center for the latest about tropical storm and hurricane activity in the Atlantic.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/7/2020 based on predictions by the NHC
1074 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Harris County Commissioners Vote to Take No Action on Raising Taxes at This Time
This morning in a special meeting, Harris County Commissioners debated whether to raise taxes BEFORE they had a certified appraisal from the Harris County Appraisal District.
Request by Budget Director
The first agenda item said, “Request by Budget Management for discussion and determination if the Court would like (1) to proceed with initial consideration of proposed property tax rates based on the July 24th Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) estimate or (2) to take no action and wait to propose rates based on the Certified Appraisal Roll expected from HCAD in late August.
Commissioners Chose Option 2
The commissioners chose option 2, i.e., to take no action. Much of the debate had to do with accuracy. The budget director outlined several different scenarios that called for different levels of tax increases. One even was based on holding the tax rate constant.
But at least one scenario called for a tax increase that would have required voter approval in November. Getting the increase on the ballot, however, would have required making a decision before August 18 and the completion of the certified appraisal.
The agenda item refers to “late August” for the completion of the certified appraisal. Those concerned about a potential tax increase should watch the calendar for the Harris County Commissioners Court.
Commissioners have scheduled two more meetings for August on the 11th and 25th.
Debate Focused on Economic Hardship
A portion of the debate and one call-in comment focused on the economic hardships that people are laboring under right now. The owner of a Chinese restaurant downtown said that her business was only 30% of the normal level. She and her family have been in business for more than 50 years. She said that they might not even be able to make their current tax payments and also said that she could not handle an increase.
This argument set the tone for the discussion. Several commissioners frequently eat at the restaurant.
At the end of the day, the commissioners voted not to take any action until they knew exactly what the tax base was. They feared raising the taxes too much or too little.
The County has not yet published the different budget scenarios considered in the meeting.
County Will Fight to Include Non-Citizens in Population Counts
The second agenda item stated: “Request by the County Attorney for authorization to file on behalf of the County friend of the court briefs and join in existing/future litigation that challenges federal efforts to exclude non-citizens in population counts when legislative boundaries are redrawn and to further authorize the County Attorney to engage Special Counsel at no cost to the County.”
A majority of the Court voted to approve this. It means the county will fight to include non-citizens in official census counts. That means, when legislative districts are redrawn (which they are after every census), Texas could wind up with more representatives in Congress rather than less. It also means that the composition of the congressional delegation could shift.
Uncertainty Surrounds Estimates of Non-Citizens
No one knows with certainty at this instant how many non-citizens live in Harris County.
The US Census Bureau estimates that 26.1% of the population is foreign born, but makes no estimate of how many foreign-born residents have attained citizenship.
A group called the Migration Policy Institute estimates that 412,000 people in Harris County are unauthorized.
Congressional Districts currently average approximately 711,000 people.
So if the Migration Policy Institute estimate is correct, AND if Harris County is successful, the inclusion of non-citizens won’t be enough to create a new district. However, it will shift some boundaries.
The Texas Secretary of State estimates that as many as 100,000 residents statewide many not have attained citizenship. However, officials are skeptical of the estimates. They are based on the number of people who did not have citizenship when they applied for drivers’ licenses. Many may have attained citizenship after applying for the licenses.
So no one really knows at this point how the inclusion of non-citizens could affect congressional boundaries.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/6/2020
1073 Days after Hurricane Harvey