A bi-partisan amendment sponsored by Dan Crenshaw and approved in the U.S. House of Representatives would provide $45 million to resolve “duplication-of-benefits” issues that continue to dog more than 1000 Texans stemming from Hurricane Harvey. However, the bill has not yet been taken up in the Senate. Pleas for help to Senators Cruz and Cornyn by Hurricane Harvey flood victims have not resulted in action.
At issue: whether those who are eligible for grants, but who received SBA loans, should be allowed to use grants to pay back loans. The government permitted this after Katrina and wants to permit it for Harvey victims, but 961 days after the storm, the Senate has still not voted on Crenshaw’s amendment that would enable it.
Duplication of Benefits or Duplication of Disasters?
Imagine you were retired, then flooded during Harvey. You’re living on social security and savings. For the sake of illustration, let’s say you had damage totaling $100,000. You got a grant of $20,000 and took out an SBA loan for $80,000 to repair your home. Then you came out of retirement and found another job to pay back the loan. But your employer laid you off when the virus hit.
When you took out the loan, you were told that it would not count against you if additional grants became available later. But it did. When you applied for the second grant to help pay back the loan, they told you it would count as a “duplication of benefits.”
Why? They don’t have enough money to cover people in your category. Why? Because the Senate has not acted on Crenshaw’s amendment. When you write your Senators, you get polite form letters back, but no action.
Will this problem be fixed? Will the Senate ever act? Probably not. The government is so consumed with the corona crisis that it has forgotten about the Harvey crisis. Meanwhile, the victims of BOTH are forgotten.
How You Can Help Forgotten Ones
If you think this is unfair, please email your Senators. They respond to public pressure.
Please take a few minutes.
Ask your senators to sponsor “the Crenshaw-Fletcher Amendment for HUD appropriations to supplement Harvey Housing.”
Emphasize that loans are being classified as “benefits” to deny people who would otherwise be eligible to receive grants.
Loans weren’t considered a duplication of benefits after Katrina, but they are for Harvey.
Congress, the President and HUD don’t want loans to be a duplication of benefits.
Constituents are being doubly hurt by a “duplication of disasters”: Inaction over the duplication of benefits issue and unemployment due to the virus.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_8300.jpeg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=19601280adminadmin2020-04-16 13:26:502020-04-16 14:24:42Lack of Senate Action Holds Up Resolution of So-Called Duplication-of-Benefits Issues
City of Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin announced this afternoon that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will close the intersection of Kingwood Drive and Texas Loop 494 this weekend. The closure starts Friday evening, April 17 and, weather permitting, will last through early Monday morning, April 20.
Purpose of Closure
This is a bit off topic for a flood blog, but Kingwood Drive affects half my readers and 494 affects many more. Here’s what’s happening.
TxDOT will raise the intersection of Kingwood Drive and 494 with two feet of asphalt. The purpose: to remove the dip by the UP railroad tracks.
Weather permitting, construction should start at 9:00 p.m. on Friday. Crews will work continuously until 5:00 a.m. Monday.
Please watch for flagmen and orange traffic cones indicating detours. Detours at Crescent Springs, Butterfly Lane, Royal Forest and Northpark Drive are shown below.
For more information, contact TxDOT at (936) 538-3300.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/15/2020
960 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0003.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-04-15 15:49:002020-04-15 17:14:31Kingwood Drive and Loop 494 Intersection Closed This Weekend
After the Easter weekend, the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) started its seasonal-release plan. The river authority is currently releasing at a rate of 529 cubic feet per second (CFS) from Lake Conroe. At that rate, the lake should reach its target level of 200 feet above sea level by the end of April, according to Jace Houston, general manager of the SJRA.
SJRA Seasonal Release on 4/15/2020. One tainter gate open six inches releases a slow, steady stream of 529 cfs. Image courtesy of SJRA.
The slow rate of release avoids flooding downstream property and the lower lake level provides additional capacity in the lake. That additional capacity provides a buffer against flooding for downstream residents.
About Seasonal Lake Lowering Policy
Houston said the River Authority will hold the lake at 200 feet through the end of May, then allow it to reach its normal level for most of the summer.
Lake Conroe actually reached 200.75 feet before SJRA began its seasonal lowering this week.A reduction of .14 feet equates to about one and two-thirds inches of lowering so far.
At 200.75 feet, Lake Conroe was actually above its highest average monthly level for the year, which is 200.44 feet in May. The normal level for April is 200.32 feet.
Lake Conroe seasonal levels by month. From SJRA board presentation by Chuck Gilman in January.
Earlier this year, a bitter fight broke out between upstream and downstream property owners over the seasonal lake lowering policy. The SJRA board decided to extend the lake lowering plan, but modify it. In the fall, they will let the City of Houston, which owns two-thirds of the water in the lake, decide whether to take the lake down below 199.5 feet.
Despite the start of the seasonal release and last week’s rains, the level of Lake Houston has declined this week. And rivers are far from flooding.
Normal level for Lake Houston is 42.5 feet, but City is still lowering lake for spillway maintenance.
Uncertain Weather for This Weekend
Jeff Lindner, Harris County meteorologist, predicts that storms this weekend could bring several inches of rain. “With the Gulf of Mexico water temperatures running several degrees above average for this time of year, winds blowing off the Gulf will need little time to supply a rich moisture-laden air mass.”
The NWS predicts a 30-40% chance of showers and thunderstorms for this weekend as a front passes. However, Lindner notes, models diverge widely in their predictions. The Global Forecast System (GFS model) predicts that most rain will happen over the Gulf with little impact to land.
However, the European Medium Range Forecast Model (ECMWF) predicts a very wet weekend with several rounds of storms and several inches of rainfall for much of southeast Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/20200220-RJR_8690.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=11200800adminadmin2020-04-15 13:26:562020-04-15 20:58:42SJRA Starts Seasonal Release to Lower Lake Conroe
Lack of Senate Action Holds Up Resolution of So-Called Duplication-of-Benefits Issues
A bi-partisan amendment sponsored by Dan Crenshaw and approved in the U.S. House of Representatives would provide $45 million to resolve “duplication-of-benefits” issues that continue to dog more than 1000 Texans stemming from Hurricane Harvey. However, the bill has not yet been taken up in the Senate. Pleas for help to Senators Cruz and Cornyn by Hurricane Harvey flood victims have not resulted in action.
Duplication of Benefits or Duplication of Disasters?
Many Harvey victims who would qualify for grants took out loans to restore their homes more quickly. The government counts both grants and loans equally in terms of aid. But the loans must be repaid. That places a large burden on low-income families, retired people, and those who have become unemployed due to the corona virus.
Imagine you were retired, then flooded during Harvey. You’re living on social security and savings. For the sake of illustration, let’s say you had damage totaling $100,000. You got a grant of $20,000 and took out an SBA loan for $80,000 to repair your home. Then you came out of retirement and found another job to pay back the loan. But your employer laid you off when the virus hit.
When you took out the loan, you were told that it would not count against you if additional grants became available later. But it did. When you applied for the second grant to help pay back the loan, they told you it would count as a “duplication of benefits.”
Trying to Untangle Web of Bureaucracy
As you investigate the problem, you discover that Congress did not intend the SBA loans to count as a duplication of benefits. The President agreed. And HUD issued rulings saying they weren’t. But the General Land Office and City of Houston (the entities actually distributing the grants) still consider you ineligible.
Why? They don’t have enough money to cover people in your category. Why? Because the Senate has not acted on Crenshaw’s amendment. When you write your Senators, you get polite form letters back, but no action.
How You Can Help Forgotten Ones
If you think this is unfair, please email your Senators. They respond to public pressure.
Please take a few minutes.
Contact:
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/16/2020
961 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Kingwood Drive and Loop 494 Intersection Closed This Weekend
City of Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin announced this afternoon that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will close the intersection of Kingwood Drive and Texas Loop 494 this weekend. The closure starts Friday evening, April 17 and, weather permitting, will last through early Monday morning, April 20.
Purpose of Closure
This is a bit off topic for a flood blog, but Kingwood Drive affects half my readers and 494 affects many more. Here’s what’s happening.
TxDOT will raise the intersection of Kingwood Drive and 494 with two feet of asphalt. The purpose: to remove the dip by the UP railroad tracks.
Please watch for flagmen and orange traffic cones indicating detours. Detours at Crescent Springs, Butterfly Lane, Royal Forest and Northpark Drive are shown below.
For more information, contact TxDOT at (936) 538-3300.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/15/2020
960 Days since Hurricane Harvey
SJRA Starts Seasonal Release to Lower Lake Conroe
After the Easter weekend, the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) started its seasonal-release plan. The river authority is currently releasing at a rate of 529 cubic feet per second (CFS) from Lake Conroe. At that rate, the lake should reach its target level of 200 feet above sea level by the end of April, according to Jace Houston, general manager of the SJRA.
About Seasonal Lake Lowering Policy
Houston said the River Authority will hold the lake at 200 feet through the end of May, then allow it to reach its normal level for most of the summer.
At 200.75 feet, Lake Conroe was actually above its highest average monthly level for the year, which is 200.44 feet in May. The normal level for April is 200.32 feet.
Earlier this year, a bitter fight broke out between upstream and downstream property owners over the seasonal lake lowering policy. The SJRA board decided to extend the lake lowering plan, but modify it. In the fall, they will let the City of Houston, which owns two-thirds of the water in the lake, decide whether to take the lake down below 199.5 feet.
The extra lowering in the fall helps protect against hurricanes and tropical storms, such as Harvey and Imelda. The SJRA begins slowly lowering the lake in August for the peak of hurricane season in September and then letting it resume its normal level again in October. For the exact details of the policy adopted by the board in its February meeting, click here.
Lake Houston Level Declining
Despite the start of the seasonal release and last week’s rains, the level of Lake Houston has declined this week. And rivers are far from flooding.
Uncertain Weather for This Weekend
Jeff Lindner, Harris County meteorologist, predicts that storms this weekend could bring several inches of rain. “With the Gulf of Mexico water temperatures running several degrees above average for this time of year, winds blowing off the Gulf will need little time to supply a rich moisture-laden air mass.”
The NWS predicts a 30-40% chance of showers and thunderstorms for this weekend as a front passes. However, Lindner notes, models diverge widely in their predictions. The Global Forecast System (GFS model) predicts that most rain will happen over the Gulf with little impact to land.
Which Model is Better?
ECMWF is considered one of the premiere global forecasting models for the mid-latitudes. Statistically, it has been more accurate than the GFS model.
NOAA has tripled spending on supercomputing capacity to make GFS the best model in the world again.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/15/2020
960 Days after Hurricane Harvey