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
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night voted 384-37 to approve the plan for the $31-billion “Ike Dike,” a massive project designed to protect the vulnerable region from storm surge. ...
The Texas General Land Office has until Friday to determine its next steps after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found the agency discriminated against minority residents in its distribution of federal Hurricane Harvey flood mitigation funds. ...
Despite an admonition from federal authorities, Land Commissioner George P. Bush’s plan still steers aid disproportionately to whiter, inland counties at less risk of natural disasters. ...
Congressional members this week are moving one step closer to authorizing a massive, $31-billion-dollar system to block storm surge along Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula and at the mouth of Galveston Bay. ...
Chief Recovery Officer Stephen Costello and Houston Housing Director Tom McCasland Update City Council. Stephen Costello's remarks begin at 31:00.
The purpose of this report is to provide a snapshot on the progress of Harvey recovery efforts and the transition towards the implementation phase kicked off in November of 2018.