AUSTIN, Texas – Six months since Hurricane Harvey battered the Lone Star State, Texans in coastal towns, urban areas, and rural counties continue to move forward with their unprecedented recovery.
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are already repairing or rebuilding their hurricane damaged houses or have found new rental apartments or homes. Their recovery activity was fueled by billions of dollars in federal grants, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest disaster loans, and flood insurance payments currently in their pockets.
Funding from other federal agencies, nonprofit agencies and private sector donations also contributed to the recovery efforts, in addition to federal funds for immediate social needs to include crisis counseling, disaster legal aid, reimbursement to food banks, and disaster unemployment.
Expectedly, there is still much to do, and many Texans are still navigating their way through disaster recovery steps, especially survivors still living temporarily in hotels, short-term apartment rentals, with friends and family, or in temporary housing in the form of mobile homes, travel trailers or leased apartments.
Some survivors with unmet needs, not covered by available financial resources will continue to require the support of local, state, federal, nonprofit, and private sector partners in the form of regular social services and innovative long-term recovery collaboration at the local level.
While survivors continue to recover from Harvey, it is important for everyone to keep in mind that Hurricane Season is only four months away, and Spring flooding in March is quickly approaching. There is no time like the present for survivors to know their risks and take preventative actions to protect their homes. For information on ways to prepare visit: https://www.ready.gov/.
For more information on Hurricane Harvey and Texas recovery, visit the Hurricane Harvey disaster web page at www.fema.gov/disaster/4332, or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FEMAharvey, the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion6, or the Texas Division of Emergency Management website at www.dps.texas.gov/dem/.
BY THE NUMBERS
1: It takes ONE team of partners at the local, state, federal level, and from nonprofit agencies, the private sector and the survivors themselves to recover from Hurricane Harvey.
17: Disaster Recovery Centers that remain open to support survivors.
41: Counties designated for Individual Assistance.
53: Counties designated for Public Assistance.
103: Public Assistance obligated projects to repair critical infrastructure.
306: Communities in Harvey impacted area participating in the National Flood Insurance Program.
1,923: Survivors in temporary disaster housing.
8,750: Households temporarily in FEMA-funded hotels.
91,000: Flood insurance claims.
11,903,736: Cubic yards of debris cleaned in Harvey impacted areas.
$19,976,306: Funds dedicated to Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
$625,000,000: Dollars obligated for Public Assistance projects.
$1,183,209,235: Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Funds available for projects that lessen the impact of future disasters
$1,557,571,583: Grants for Housing and Other Disaster-related expenses paid to survivors.
$3,100,000,000: Approved U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest loans
$8,300,000,000: National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) payments.
$13,000,000,000: Money in survivors’ pockets from Federal and State grants, SBA low-interest disaster loans, and National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) payments.
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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.
Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711/VRS - Video Relay Service) (TTY: 800-462-7585). Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish).
The SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling (800) 659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or visiting SBA’s website at www.sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call (800) 877-8339.