Tag Archive for: DRRP

Flood Digest: Brief Summaries of Five Flood-Related News Items

11/25/24 – This flood digest contains brief summaries of five recent flood-related news items.

GLO Launches Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program

A month ago, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) announced the creation of a Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program (DRRP). The purpose: to utilize unused and de-obligated Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds from disasters dating back to 2008. See:

The GLO administers U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds in Texas. And in keeping with HUD’s mission, grant scoring for the reallocated funds gives preference to low-to-moderate income areas. Also, project evaluation criteria include feasibility of completing the proposed project(s) within two years. Communities can use the reallocated funds for:

  • Flood and drainage improvements
  • Water and wastewater improvements
  • Street improvements
  • Rehabilitation, reconstruction, and new construction of affordable multifamily projects
  • Permanently affixed emergency communication equipment.

Approximately 15 entities in or related to Harris County submitted projects. They include Harris County Housing Authority, City of Houston and Harris County plus a dozen or more other entities in Harris County.

Unused funds from the disasters currently total about $130 million. Grants will range from $500,000 to $20 million. For more details, see this PowerPoint presentation.

“Dam Project that Never Was” Might Have Prevented Helene Deaths

A reader sent me a link to a news story called The Dam Project that Never Was published in The Dispatch by Will Rinehart. It’s about the present day implications of a dam project in North Carolina scuttled more than 50 years ago.

The article begins with a quote from a news article in the July 17, 1916, edition of The Asheville Citizen. “Asheville today is absolutely isolated from the outside world, is a city of darkness void of ordinary transportation facilities, and finds herself helpless in the grasp of the most terrible flood conditions ever known here.” 

The article then draws eerie parallels between Hurricane Helene in 2024 and the 1916 flood. After additional Ashville floods in 1949, 1961, and 1964, the Tennessee Valley Authority proposed a dam project to protect Ashville. The City sits in a mountain bowl which makes it flood prone.

In the late 1960’s, Congress allocated $3.3 billion to build dams that could have prevented future flooding. But they would have displaced 60 families.

The families organized opposition that killed the project. More time passed. Helene struck and became the second deadliest hurricane to hit the US mainland since Katrina.

Hurricane Helene satellite
Hurricane Helene shortly after formation

It’s a powerful story filled with irony. Rinehart laments a technical gap in the discourse about such floods. “Very little of the coverage of Helene’s aftermath that I’ve seen discusses the technical aspects of the flooding and what might be done to limit it in the future.”

“We aren’t even talking about dams and flood management,” he concludes.

So sad. After Harvey, the Lake Houston Area Flood Task Force began a search for solutions. More than seven years later, authorities have identified several upstream dam sites, but begun construction on none. We saw where that got us this May.

Judges Hear Oral Arguments in Upstream Addicks Barker Case

Law firm McGehee ☆ Chang, Landgraf, Feiler wrote that oral arguments in the upstream Addicks Barker case concluded on November 8, 2024.

The government claimed that Harvey was a disaster that was a once in one-thousand-year occurrence, and that the government should not be penalized for such an extremely rare event. 

However, the lawyers for the plaintiffs say they refuted that claim. “Our side also pointed out that while Harvey was a significant rain event – it was not as infrequent as the government claimed.”

McGehee et. al. say they expect the appeals court to issue its ruling in approximately six months.

Addicks Repairs Costing $9.3 million Substantially Completed

In the meantime, Harris County Flood Control District says it has completed a $9.3 million project to repair channels in the Addicks Reservoir. Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said, “The Flood Control District has learned near five miles of ditches and removed more than 2,000 dump trucks of silt.”

HCFCD Project ID: Z100-00-00-X308 – Bond Project ID: F-53

Repairs also included work on concrete structures and storm outfall failures. 

Repairs Totaling $6.46 Million in Barker Reservoir Completed

On November 20, 2024, Harris County Flood Control announced substantial completion of a similar package of repairs in the Barker Reservoir, which is in Precinct 4.

HCFCD Project ID: Z100-00-00-X310  – Bond Project ID: F-52

Repairs took two years and cost $6.46 million.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/25/24

2645 Days since Hurricane Harvey

 

GLO Posts Six State Action-Plan Amendments for Public Comment

9/3/2024 – Today, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) posted six state action-plan amendments for public comment. The amendments reallocate remaining money from federal grants for disasters between 2008 and 2019.

Includes Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program

Each of the six amendments includes a new Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program (DRRP). The DRRP will let the GLO utilize de-obligated and un-utilized funds remaining within the action plan for each disaster.

The $135 million being reallocated pales in comparison to the billions of dollars in unmet needs around the state. Better matching remaining dollars with remaining needs will help create a more resilient Texas. And simplifying the application process will help use up available money before federal deadlines expire.

Action-Plan Amendments, Deadlines, Major Changes

The GLO provided this summary of the deadlines for public comment on each amendment:

  • Hurricanes Ike and Dolly Amendment 7
    • Federally required public comment period of 7 days will end at 5:00 PM on September 11, 2024.
  • 2015 Floods and Storms Amendment 6
    • Federally required public comment period of 14 days will end at 5:00 PM on September 18, 2024.
  • 2016 Floods and Storms Amendment 8
    • Federally required public comment period of 14 days will end at 5:00 PM on September 18, 2024.
  • Hurricane Harvey $5.6 Billion Amendment 16
    • Federally required public comment period of 30 days will end at 5:00 PM on October 4, 2024.
    • Includes updates to the Harris County Homeowner Assistance, Residential Buyout, Affordable Rental and Single Family New Construction Programs.
    • Includes updates to the City of Houston Single Family Development and Buyout Programs.
  • 2018 South Texas Floods Amendment 2
    • Federally required public comment period of 30 days will end at 5:00 PM on October 4, 2024.
    • Includes updates to the Specific Conditions Report in Appendix H.
  • 2019 Disasters Amendment 3
    • Federally required public comment period of 30 days will end at 5:00 PM on October 4, 2024.
    • Includes updates to the Specific Conditions Report in Appendix G.
Cover of Amendment 16 to Harvey Action Plan

The six action-plan amendments are available for review at https://recovery.texas.gov/public-notices.

Submit all comments to cdr@recovery.texas.gov by 5:00 p.m. on their respective ending dates.  

$135 Million Reallocated

The Hurricane Ike action plan amendment creates the DRRP. It will utilize remaining program funds from current disaster recovery grants from 2008 to 2019, with the exception of the 2011 Wildfires grant.

DRRP will expedite the expenditure of funds to comply with HUD’s timely expenditure requirements through a call for projects across multiple grants.

Ike Action Plan Amendment, page 2.

Each project will undergo eligibility analysis based on the grant that used to fund it.

As funds continue to be identified through the de-obligation process, they will be added to the DRRP
program. All remaining funds will be reallocated to this program for each grant.

The amounts going into the DRRP “pot” total $135 million. That includes:

Together, they total $135,000,000. 

Consult Individual Plans for More Details

Based on the Dolly/Ike amendment, GLO will do a single call for projects statewide. Each agency that responds can submit up to two applications, and they will score them based on the published criteria.  

Those criteria total more than 800 pages. Criteria for each of the six amendments are hyperlinked with the amounts above.

While that’s a daunting number of pages to read, GLO provides tables that show where money is going from and to, plus rules that will govern grant awards.

The GLO will perform the eligibility analysis to make applications easier. “We want this to be as simple as possible for applicants, so they will only have to submit one application and have all of the difficult analysis of eligibility and funding streams on our end,” said Brittany Eck, a GLO spokesperson.

If nothing else, these amendments dramatize how complex the flood mitigation process is. Today is 2562 days since Hurricane Harvey. But Hurricane Ike struck Houston on September 11, 2008. That’s 5836 days ago!

How to Submit Public Comments

Submit all comments to cdr@recovery.texas.gov by 5:00 p.m. on their respective ending dates to be considered. GLO requests that you please include the name and number of the action-plan amendments that you’re commenting on in the subject line. 

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/3/24

2562 Days since Hurricane Harvey