PRESS RELEASE
City of Houston and HUD Announce Power Protection Initiative, Discuss Disaster Recovery
June 24, 2025 -- Mayor John Whitmire welcomed U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner to Houston on Tuesday to hear firsthand the Mayor's strategic plans for the use of disaster recovery funding and his commitment to assisting Houstonians with some of the greatest needs.
After the devastating impacts of Hurricane Beryl and the May 2024 derecho, HUD allocated $314 million to Houston for unmet disaster-related needs, provided through HUD's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
Following a short visit to Houston City Hall, Secretary Turner joined Mayor Whitmire, Chief Resilience and Recovery Officer Angela Blanchard, and several public safety employees at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center to announce the city's strategy to dedicate a significant portion of allocated federal disaster recovery funding toward Houston's Power Protection Initiative (PPI). Houston will propose using $151 million of the $314 million in federal disaster recovery funds to support the PPI.
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“Secretary Turner and I served together in the Texas Legislature, and we both recognize how essential it is for major cities like Houston to work closely with our federal partners. The City of Houston has identified more than 100 key sites across the city that will benefit from HUD funding our Power Protection Initiative. It is a step forward in our effort to ensure backup power is available at critical facilities, including water and sewer plants, public safety sites, shelters, and distribution hubs for emergency supplies,” said Mayor Whitmire. “This initiative is about building resilience, protecting lives, and keeping Houston strong during future emergencies.”
“HUD is proud to deliver $314 million in disaster recovery funding to Houston as we continue prioritizing helping Americans recover from natural disasters,” said Secretary Turner. “Mayor Whitmire has identified a great need to invest in infrastructure to support power resilience and help protect the region amid future disasters, and we at HUD, understand that local officials know their communities best. A core component of our disaster response effort is providing local leaders flexibility on how to best use disaster recovery funds to maximize their benefit to communities. HUD looks forward to reviewing Houston’s draft action plan and working with Mayor Whitmire and his team to address storm relief, recovery, and mitigation.”
Following the announcement of the Power Protection Initiative, Secretary Turner accompanied Mayor Whitmire on a tour of the Harris Center. They were joined by CEO Wayne Young, City Housing Director Mike Nichols, and Larry Satterwhite, Director of the Mayor's Office of Homeland Security and Public Safety. The visit focused on Houston's strengthened coordination between mental health services and law enforcement, along with the mayor's End Street Homelessness Action Plan.
"This is a heck of an occasion for you to be here. No one can tell me if a HUD Secretary has been here before, but I know it won't be the last time. The only reason I stand before you is to fix Houston, and the homeless issue is one of my highest priorities. It will take collaboration. It will require county and state assistance, as well as a partnership with the faith community. We won't be able to fix it by ourselves. It is a team effort," said Mayor Whitmire.
Following today's announcement, the City of Houston will submit its finalized draft action plan for approval to HUD. Once HUD receives the draft plan, the Department has a 45-day review period where it can provide comments or feedback. When the draft action plan is agreed upon by both HUD and the City of Houston, a grant agreement will be established to enable the city to proceed with implementing its action plan.