City of Houston Harvey Relief

Dear Houstonians,

Hurricane Harvey inundated America’s 4th largest city with over 50 inches of rain and impacted more than 300,000 housing units in Houston alone. More homes flooded in Houston during Hurricane Harvey than in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina or New York City during Hurricane Sandy. This is the third year in a row that Houston has experienced severe flooding resulting in a Presidentially declared disaster.

By itself, Harvey represents the largest housing disaster in American history, and we cannot effectively recover without federal support. This website outlines our requests of the federal government for members of the Administration, Congress and their staff, the media and the public.

Houston has come to the aid of other Gulf Coast communities in their time of need and represents an essential hub for American energy, medical treatment, shipping, aerospace, and trade. Working with our Congressional delegation, we need the federal government to come to our aide to help build a more resilient city that has learned the lessons of Harvey. Without flood mitigation, rebuilding dollars are just funding for future failure.

I invite you to read through this site and contact my Office of Government Relations with any questions.

Sincerely,

Sylvester Turner
Mayor

Louisiana received over $14 billion for flood control projects following Hurricane Katrina.

Congress appropriated over $5 billion for Corps of Engineers projects in areas affected by Superstorm Sandy.

Hurricane Harvey inundated America’s 4th largest city with over 50 inches of rain and flooded more than 300,000 housing units in Houston alone.

More homes flooded in Houston during Hurricane Harvey than in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina or New York City during Superstorm Sandy.

Army Corps gives nod to $31B ‘Ike Dike’ plan to protect Texas coast

A decade after Hurricane Ike devastated the Texas Gulf Coast, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday that a more ambitious version of the proposed “Ike Dike” — a 70-mile-long coastal barrier that could cost as much as $31 billion — is the preferred choice for protecting the state’s coastline from future storm surges.

Houston Chronicle • 10/26/18

Reconstructing Hurricane Harvey to find its overlooked victims

When the city revised its estimate based on Civis’s analysis, it found that unmet housing needs actually amounted to some $3 billion. That means the $1.15 billion Houston received as part of a $5 billion aid package to Texas from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development isn’t nearly enough to cover what residents lost in the storm. And that’s why the city is now trying to ensure the limited funds will actually go to the most vulnerable.

CityLab • 10/22/18

Big data determines that post-disaster aid doesn’t go to the people who most need it

This approach results in a severe underestimation of need: It fails to capture people who do not know to apply, or cannot, or whose properties sustained damage that FEMA doesn’t recognize. So Houston HCD, in November, issued a request for proposals, calling for a new, data-driven approach to identifying and quantifying need after a disaster like Harvey strikes.

Fast Company • 10/15/18

Study says to fix Harvey-related housing damage, Houston needs $2 billion more in federal funds

An estimated 130,000 Houstonians affected by Harvey were overlooked in the city’s original housing needs assessment, according to the Houston Housing and Community Development Department. To fix the previously neglected damage, the city needs an extra $2 billion in federal resources, the agency said in an Oct. 5 report.

Texas Tribune • 10/11/18

Can Houston prevent disaster when the next storm comes?

Houston, known as the Bayou City, is no stranger to flooding. But the record-breaking rains and devastating deluge of Hurricane Harvey helped expose a disconnect between developers building on flood-vulnerable land and home buyers who might not have realized the risk.

Making Houston Stronger: A Town Hall

KPRC2 brought you an in-depth discussion with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett about the lessons we've learned and what's being done to protect the Houston area from another flood catastrophe.

City of Houston PostHarvey

Post-Harvey Unmet Need in Houston

Quick Facts