On October 1st, Governor Greg Abbott sent a disaster-request letter to President Trump in response to the damage caused by Tropical Storm Imelda. The 31-page letter to President Trump lays out the case for Federal aid. It also includes an impressive catalog of storm-related damages.
The thirteen counties impacted by Tropical Storm Imelda (Imelda) are still recovering from previous disasters, including Hurricane Harvey. The population of the counties affected by Imelda exceeds 7.59 million people. That represents more than a quarter of the state’s population.
Six Counties Declared Disaster Area
Abbott requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration for the six counties in the Gulf Coast region that sustained severe flooding. Today, the President granted Governor Abbott’s request.
That means Individual Assistance for those in Chambers, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, and Orange counties will now become available. The Governor’s press release states that “Individual Assistance includes up to $35,500 per household for damages sustained during the severe weather.”
“This means that even if people did not have flood insurance, they may receive financial aid and low-cost SBA loans,” said Kaaren Cambio, staff assistant for Congressman Dan Crenshaw.
GLO Designated to Lead Disaster Mitigation Efforts
In a separate statement, the Governor announced that Commissioner George P. Bush and the Texas General Land Office will lead the State’s comprehensive disaster mitigation program. Bush will direct more than $4 billion in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant for Mitigation (CDBG-MIT).
The program will prioritize large-scale, regional projects that increase the state’s resilience to disasters statewide, protect lives and mitigate against future hurricanes and other natural disasters. Bush says he will focus on projects that benefit the most Texans. That means “prioritizing regional partnerships to protect Texans from future storms.”
On August 23, 2019, HUD released mandatory rules for the use of more than $4.3 billion in funding for mitigation projects. They covered money appropriated by Congress on February 9, 2018. Before the GLO could begin drafting a state action plan, those rules had to be published in the Federal Register. The GLO has already begun drafting the plan. It should take approximately nine months or more to complete, at which time, the GLO can send it to HUD for approval.
In total, HUD allocated $4,383,085,000 in CDBG-MIT funds to Texas. Altogether, 140 Texas counties are eligible for some part of this allocation of funding for 2015, 2016, and 2017 (Hurricane Harvey) disasters.
ABC13 Says Choice of GLO Was Response to Slow Pace of Recovery
Ted Oberg of ABC13 News reported today that Abbott tapped the GLO because the City of Houston and Harris County were not moving fast enough with their flood mitigation efforts. The article’s headline says, “Slow pace costs Houston, Harris County control of flood money.” It begins, “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken notice of Houston’s slow-moving progress with its Harvey recovery program.”
“Houston and Harris County’s lack of movement on Harvey housing recovery is the reason the city and county will not get a direct allocation. Victims need this money. That’s why this will go through GLO,” Abbott spokesman John Wittman told 13 Investigates’ Ted Oberg.
In the Mayoral Debate on Wednesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said that the city had received $1.3 billion for home repair and recovery.
Oberg reported in June, 2019, that only four people received housing aid as of that date, despite private companies being paid millions to operate the program. Oberg says that the City’s latest figures show that since then, only an additional 11 people have received financial assistance, despite more than 16,400 homeowners expressing interest in it.
As of August 1, of the 4,900 people that the City invited to apply for its federally-funded Homeowner Assistance Programs, less than half submitted an application.
Reaction from Local Officials
According to Oberg, Mayor Sylvester Turner said, “It’s on them now.”
Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement to 13 Investigates. “While we’re disappointed in Governor Abbott’s decision to run this program out of Austin instead of providing us local control, we’ll continue to work as a team to make sure we apply every single federal dollar available towards building a stronger, safer Harris County.”
Questions Still Remain
It’s still unclear to me at this hour how the GLO’s focus on large scale mitigation projects affects individual homeowners seeking financial assistance. They seem to tap two different pots of money. But they also seem to have been conflated by the reporting on this issue. Let’s hope that the state can speed things up on both fronts. Flooded homeowners need help immediately, not three years after the disaster.
More than a dozen homes on Dunnam Road near Tailor Gulley flooded for the second time in four months during Imelda.The owner of the home on the left told me he did not apply for federal assistance.
Need to Re-engineer Disaster Mitigation is NOT in Question
Harris County’s Final Harvey report stated: “Based on house flooding assessments, the estimated total number of homes flooded within Harris County is 154,170.” That only 15 homeowners have received HUD financial assistance more than two years after Harvey is an indictment of the whole crazy system that has evolved.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/3/2019
766 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 15 since Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/EEP_001.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-10-04 20:46:532019-10-04 21:57:48Harris County Declared Federal Disaster Area in Wake of Imelda; State Taking Control of Disaster Mitigation Funding
At its monthly meeting, members of the KSA Parks Committee voted unanimously to approve $60,000 to begin emergency repairs to East End Park immediately. The vote followed a presentation by Bob Rehak (me), Park Steward; Dee Price, KSA President; and Maryanne Fortson, KSA Secretary and President of Fosters Mill.
Safety Concerns Jumpstart Repairs
The presentation detailed damage by Imelda and historic East Fork flooding that put most of the park under water during the tropical storm. Much of the discussion focused on safety concerns following a review of photos taken from land, boat and helicopter, including those below.
Pelican Overlook Trail consumed by erosion from river during Imelda.Same scene from river shows undercut banks. People standing near river could trigger dangerous cave ins.More trail erosion in East End Park. The river migrated approximately 50 feet south consuming large parts of two trails.
The photos (including those above) showed significant bank erosion to the northern shoreline of the park. The river undercut two trails as it migrated south about fifty feet during the storm. Parts of two trails fell into the river: the Pelican Overlook and Eagle Point Trails.
Photos (above) taken from Josh Alberson’s boat show significant undercutting of the shoreline in those areas. That means, someone standing on the edge could trigger a cave in.
KSA has tried to close the park three times, but people keep tearing down the warning signs.
Options Discussed but NOT Included in Emergency Repairs
As part of the discussion on the motion, the Committee examined several alternative solutions to restoring the park to full functionality.
A short new trail (further inland) will reconnect the two parts of the severed Pelican Overlook Trail.
Fallen logs will block off the parts of the existing trail in danger of caving into the river. Metal signs will be screwed into the logs warning people of dangers ahead.
KSA will abandon the Eagle Point Trail and rename it the “Dunes Area” of the park. Residents can still access the Dunes Area, but no trails will run through it. This will reduce current and future repair and maintenance costs; repairing that area consumed a large portion of the budget after Harvey. The dunes should offer a new experience for park-goers, especially those who like climbing or hiking in sand for cardio workouts.
As a separate project (not included in the $60,000), KSA will explore the cost of building a new trail that connects the South Loop and Pelican Overlook trails without going all the way back to the main entry trail. It would go to the south of the “overflow channel” that carries floodwater through that section of the park and would not require bridges.
Also as a separate project, KSA would compare two options for replacing a portion of the South Loop trail. The portion – between Heron’s Rest and the turn-off to the main boardwalk – turns into mud after every flood. The mud comes from several inches of silt deposited on TOP of the crushed granite trail. The first option: relocating the trail atop a berm that parallels the current trail about 50 feet further inland. The second option: replacing the current trail with a low boardwalk, like the ones near Alligator Alley.
Dunes Area Will Revert to Nature
This birds’ nest used to be the height of a basketball hoop. After Imelda, it’s ankle high.Photo by John Knoezer.
Emergency Repairs Will Include…
The Parks Committee appointed Rehak, Fortson and Price as a subcommittee to approve emergency repair costs, rather than wait another month for the Parks Committee to meet again. Included in the emergency repairs:
Tree removal, where necessary
Patching trails scoured by the flood to create a stable hiking and jogging surface
Resurfacing most muddy areas with crushed granite
Boardwalk repairs
Restoring the telephone poles in the parking lot to their original positions
Replacing trail underliner on hills with gravel to create a more stable base for crushed granite. The latter will form the top finished surface.
Erecting barricades and signs warning of hazardous conditions where the river undercut existing trails
Cleaning all boardwalks and benches
Removing all flood debris from trails.
Restoring An Ecological Gem
An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 visitors per year use East End Park. It is an ecological gem, valued as much for the 150 bird species that migrate through the park and a herd of deer that lives in the park year round, as for the quiet, restorative atmosphere that bonds families together on nature walks.
Five area cross country teams also use the park for practice. Joggers value the soft surface of crushed granite. It’s much easier on knees and backs than concrete.
East End Park is also one of the few dog-friendly parks in the City of Houston. Different people like the park for different reasons. It has so much to offer.
I remember one time, seeing a man sitting at a new bench in a particularly beautiful part of the park. He came day after day to walk in beauty and meditate on nature. One day, I asked him what he got out of it. It gave him the motivation, he said, to cope with chemo.
The poster below shows how the park looked then and how it will soon look again.
What East End Park looked like BEFORE Imelda.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/3/2019 with gratitude to Josh Alberson, John Knoezer, Dee Price, Maryanne Fortson, National Helicopter Service and the entire KSA Parks Committee
765 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 14 since Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/EEP_001_23.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-10-03 23:50:352019-10-03 23:50:44KSA Approves $60,000 to Begin Emergency Repairs to East End Park Immediately
Houston City Council Member Dave Martin would like for Kingwood residents to know that the City of Houston has filed cease-and-desist orders against Perry Homes, Double Oak Construction, Inc., and Figure Four Partners, Ltd. for the discharge of stormwater from the Woodridge Village development site.
Erosion within Woodridge Forest. Photo taken two days after Imelda on 9/21/2019How the streets looked in Elm Grove on 9/20/2019.
Basis of Cease-and-Desist Order
These cease-and-desist orders were issued in response to the discharge of sand, silt, sediment, and debris from the development site into the Municipal Storm Sewer System (MS4) on September 19, 2019.
This discharge is in direct violation of City of Houston Ordinance: ARTICLE XII. – STORM WATER DISCHARGES, DIVISION 5 – ILLICIT DISCHARGES AND CONNECTIONS, Section 47-741 – Discharge to MS4 prohibited (a) A person commits an offense if the person threatens to introduce, introduces or causes to be introduced into the MS4 any discharge that is not composed entirely of storm water.
Severe Damage to COH Property and Citizens
This discharge has caused severe damage to the City of Houston’s MS4 and to the property of the citizens of the City of Houston.
As a result of this discharge, the City of Houston started last week a 12-week extensive investigation of the stormwater system located within Elm Grove and other effected communities within the far northeast section of Kingwood. This investigation is currently 10 percent complete.
Another Update Coming on October 17
Another update on this investigation will be provided during the Council Member Martin’s Kingwood Town Hall Meeting to be held on Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. located at the Kingwood Community Center (4102 Rustic Woods, Kingwood, TX 77345).
Council Member Martin is actively pursuing additional measures to be taken to further protect the residents of Kingwood. Although he has not yet specified what those are, members of his staff implied that they may be seeking to throw executives for the defendants into jail until the situation is remedied.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/2/2019
764 Days After Hurricane Harvey and 13 after Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Helicopter_144.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-10-02 17:13:052019-10-02 17:13:16City of Houston Files Cease-and-Desist Order Against Perry Homes, Double Oak, and Figure Four Partners
Harris County Declared Federal Disaster Area in Wake of Imelda; State Taking Control of Disaster Mitigation Funding
On October 1st, Governor Greg Abbott sent a disaster-request letter to President Trump in response to the damage caused by Tropical Storm Imelda. The 31-page letter to President Trump lays out the case for Federal aid. It also includes an impressive catalog of storm-related damages.
The thirteen counties impacted by Tropical Storm Imelda (Imelda) are still recovering from previous disasters, including Hurricane Harvey. The population of the counties affected by Imelda exceeds 7.59 million people. That represents more than a quarter of the state’s population.
Six Counties Declared Disaster Area
Abbott requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration for the six counties in the Gulf Coast region that sustained severe flooding. Today, the President granted Governor Abbott’s request.
That means Individual Assistance for those in Chambers, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, and Orange counties will now become available. The Governor’s press release states that “Individual Assistance includes up to $35,500 per household for damages sustained during the severe weather.”
“This means that even if people did not have flood insurance, they may receive financial aid and low-cost SBA loans,” said Kaaren Cambio, staff assistant for Congressman Dan Crenshaw.
GLO Designated to Lead Disaster Mitigation Efforts
In a separate statement, the Governor announced that Commissioner George P. Bush and the Texas General Land Office will lead the State’s comprehensive disaster mitigation program. Bush will direct more than $4 billion in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant for Mitigation (CDBG-MIT).
The program will prioritize large-scale, regional projects that increase the state’s resilience to disasters statewide, protect lives and mitigate against future hurricanes and other natural disasters. Bush says he will focus on projects that benefit the most Texans. That means “prioritizing regional partnerships to protect Texans from future storms.”
On August 23, 2019, HUD released mandatory rules for the use of more than $4.3 billion in funding for mitigation projects. They covered money appropriated by Congress on February 9, 2018. Before the GLO could begin drafting a state action plan, those rules had to be published in the Federal Register. The GLO has already begun drafting the plan. It should take approximately nine months or more to complete, at which time, the GLO can send it to HUD for approval.
In total, HUD allocated $4,383,085,000 in CDBG-MIT funds to Texas. Altogether, 140 Texas counties are eligible for some part of this allocation of funding for 2015, 2016, and 2017 (Hurricane Harvey) disasters.
ABC13 Says Choice of GLO Was Response to Slow Pace of Recovery
Ted Oberg of ABC13 News reported today that Abbott tapped the GLO because the City of Houston and Harris County were not moving fast enough with their flood mitigation efforts. The article’s headline says, “Slow pace costs Houston, Harris County control of flood money.” It begins, “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken notice of Houston’s slow-moving progress with its Harvey recovery program.”
“Houston and Harris County’s lack of movement on Harvey housing recovery is the reason the city and county will not get a direct allocation. Victims need this money. That’s why this will go through GLO,” Abbott spokesman John Wittman told 13 Investigates’ Ted Oberg.
In the Mayoral Debate on Wednesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said that the city had received $1.3 billion for home repair and recovery.
Oberg reported in June, 2019, that only four people received housing aid as of that date, despite private companies being paid millions to operate the program. Oberg says that the City’s latest figures show that since then, only an additional 11 people have received financial assistance, despite more than 16,400 homeowners expressing interest in it.
As of August 1, of the 4,900 people that the City invited to apply for its federally-funded Homeowner Assistance Programs, less than half submitted an application.
Reaction from Local Officials
According to Oberg, Mayor Sylvester Turner said, “It’s on them now.”
Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement to 13 Investigates. “While we’re disappointed in Governor Abbott’s decision to run this program out of Austin instead of providing us local control, we’ll continue to work as a team to make sure we apply every single federal dollar available towards building a stronger, safer Harris County.”
Questions Still Remain
It’s still unclear to me at this hour how the GLO’s focus on large scale mitigation projects affects individual homeowners seeking financial assistance. They seem to tap two different pots of money. But they also seem to have been conflated by the reporting on this issue. Let’s hope that the state can speed things up on both fronts. Flooded homeowners need help immediately, not three years after the disaster.
Need to Re-engineer Disaster Mitigation is NOT in Question
As I’ve stated before, we need to re-engineer the whole disaster mitigation business. Sometimes fewer people, not more, can get results faster.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/3/2019
766 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 15 since Imelda
KSA Approves $60,000 to Begin Emergency Repairs to East End Park Immediately
At its monthly meeting, members of the KSA Parks Committee voted unanimously to approve $60,000 to begin emergency repairs to East End Park immediately. The vote followed a presentation by Bob Rehak (me), Park Steward; Dee Price, KSA President; and Maryanne Fortson, KSA Secretary and President of Fosters Mill.
Safety Concerns Jumpstart Repairs
The presentation detailed damage by Imelda and historic East Fork flooding that put most of the park under water during the tropical storm. Much of the discussion focused on safety concerns following a review of photos taken from land, boat and helicopter, including those below.
The photos (including those above) showed significant bank erosion to the northern shoreline of the park. The river undercut two trails as it migrated south about fifty feet during the storm. Parts of two trails fell into the river: the Pelican Overlook and Eagle Point Trails.
Photos (above) taken from Josh Alberson’s boat show significant undercutting of the shoreline in those areas. That means, someone standing on the edge could trigger a cave in.
Options Discussed but NOT Included in Emergency Repairs
As part of the discussion on the motion, the Committee examined several alternative solutions to restoring the park to full functionality.
Dunes Area Will Revert to Nature
Emergency Repairs Will Include…
The Parks Committee appointed Rehak, Fortson and Price as a subcommittee to approve emergency repair costs, rather than wait another month for the Parks Committee to meet again. Included in the emergency repairs:
Restoring An Ecological Gem
An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 visitors per year use East End Park. It is an ecological gem, valued as much for the 150 bird species that migrate through the park and a herd of deer that lives in the park year round, as for the quiet, restorative atmosphere that bonds families together on nature walks.
Five area cross country teams also use the park for practice. Joggers value the soft surface of crushed granite. It’s much easier on knees and backs than concrete.
East End Park is also one of the few dog-friendly parks in the City of Houston. Different people like the park for different reasons. It has so much to offer.
I remember one time, seeing a man sitting at a new bench in a particularly beautiful part of the park. He came day after day to walk in beauty and meditate on nature. One day, I asked him what he got out of it. It gave him the motivation, he said, to cope with chemo.
The poster below shows how the park looked then and how it will soon look again.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/3/2019 with gratitude to Josh Alberson, John Knoezer, Dee Price, Maryanne Fortson, National Helicopter Service and the entire KSA Parks Committee
765 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 14 since Imelda
City of Houston Files Cease-and-Desist Order Against Perry Homes, Double Oak, and Figure Four Partners
Houston City Council Member Dave Martin would like for Kingwood residents to know that the City of Houston has filed cease-and-desist orders against Perry Homes, Double Oak Construction, Inc., and Figure Four Partners, Ltd. for the discharge of stormwater from the Woodridge Village development site.
Basis of Cease-and-Desist Order
These cease-and-desist orders were issued in response to the discharge of sand, silt, sediment, and debris from the development site into the Municipal Storm Sewer System (MS4) on September 19, 2019.
This discharge is in direct violation of City of Houston Ordinance: ARTICLE XII. – STORM WATER DISCHARGES, DIVISION 5 – ILLICIT DISCHARGES AND CONNECTIONS, Section 47-741 – Discharge to MS4 prohibited (a) A person commits an offense if the person threatens to introduce, introduces or causes to be introduced into the MS4 any discharge that is not composed entirely of storm water.
Severe Damage to COH Property and Citizens
This discharge has caused severe damage to the City of Houston’s MS4 and to the property of the citizens of the City of Houston.
As a result of this discharge, the City of Houston started last week a 12-week extensive investigation of the stormwater system located within Elm Grove and other effected communities within the far northeast section of Kingwood. This investigation is currently 10 percent complete.
Another Update Coming on October 17
Another update on this investigation will be provided during the Council Member Martin’s Kingwood Town Hall Meeting to be held on Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. located at the Kingwood Community Center (4102 Rustic Woods, Kingwood, TX 77345).
Council Member Martin is actively pursuing additional measures to be taken to further protect the residents of Kingwood. Although he has not yet specified what those are, members of his staff implied that they may be seeking to throw executives for the defendants into jail until the situation is remedied.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/2/2019
764 Days After Hurricane Harvey and 13 after Imelda