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Reduce Flooding: GLO Releases Status of Disaster-Relief, Flood-Mitigation Applications

2/28/25 ā€“ Today, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) released the status of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster-relief and flood-mitigation applications from Harris Countyā€™s Flood Control District and Housing & Community Development Department. The grant applications cover almost $1.1 billion dollars in aid for Harris County relating to Hurricane Harvey alone, which the GLO [ā€¦]

The post GLO Releases Status of Disaster-Relief, Flood-Mitigation Applications appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: Why You Need Flood Insurance: Houstonā€™s Long-Shot Harvey Reimbursement Program

The City of Houstonā€™s latest pipeline report shows that as of the start of this year, Housing and Community Developmentā€™s Harvey Recovery Program had sent reimbursement checks to 150 homeowners out of 96,410 homes flooded during Harvey (see page 15). Quite the long shot! More than 1 in 600! Program Ended More than Year Ago; [ā€¦]

The post Why You Need Flood Insurance: Houstonā€™s Long-Shot Harvey Reimbursement Program appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: Mayor Turner Points Finger at GLO in Latest Harvey Relief Dispute

Two months after Tom McCasland publicly exposed problems in his Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD), the Texas General Land Office (GLO) released the results of its investigation of McCaslandā€™s explosive allegations. GLO criticized HCDD on five counts. It didnā€™t take long for Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to return fire. Turner Fires Back Turnerā€™s office [ā€¦]

The post Mayor Turner Points Finger at GLO in Latest Harvey Relief Dispute appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: Mayor Turner Points Finger at GLO in Latest Harvey Relief Dispute

Two months after Tom McCasland publicly exposed problems in his Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD), the Texas General Land Office (GLO) released the results of its investigation of McCaslandā€™s explosive allegations. GLO criticized HCDD on five counts. It didnā€™t take long for Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to return fire. Turner Fires Back Turnerā€™s office [ā€¦]

The post Mayor Turner Points Finger at GLO in Latest Harvey Relief Dispute appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: Should City Be in Disaster Relief? For One Program, It Spent $3 Million to Get $3 Thousand

One of the more alarming facts that came out of Thursdayā€™s City Council meeting is that Houstonā€™s Housing and Community Development is spending far more on disaster relief than it gets back in reimbursements. In the case of one program, Economic Development, the ratio between costs and reimbursements to date was actually 1100 to 1, [ā€¦]

The post Should City Be in Disaster Relief? For One Program, It Spent $3 Million to Get $3 Thousand appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: Special City Meeting Thursday At 2 PM Will Address Multi-Family Housing Flap

City of Houston called a special joint committee meeting for Thursday, October 7, at 2PM between Budget & Fiscal Affairs and Housing and Community Affairs. Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin will chair the meeting. The agenda is scant. It entails a Housing and Community Development ā€œFinancial Updateā€ with three speakers: Keith Bynam, Deputy Director, Housing [ā€¦]

The post Special City Meeting Thursday At 2 PM Will Address Multi-Family Housing Flap appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: Chronicle, ABC13 Report Harris County District Attorney Opens Investigation into Mayor

The Houston Chronicle and Ted Oberg, ABC13ā€™s investigative reporter, both filed new stories Tuesday about the controversy surrounding Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Cityā€™s troubled Housing and Community Development Department. The story blew up on September 22 and immediately triggered a fraud investigation by the Texas General Land Office and the US Department of [ā€¦]

The post Chronicle, ABC13 Report Harris County District Attorney Opens Investigation into Mayor appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: Blowup Between Mayor and Housing Director Triggers Fraud Investigation over Harvey Funds

Yesterday, City of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston Housing and Community Development Director Tom McCasland got into a verbal brawl over alleged improprieties in the distribution of Harvey relief funds. The trigger was the award of $15 million to build a Clear Lake multi-family housing complex in which the Mayorā€™s former law partner, Barry [ā€¦]

The post Blowup Between Mayor and Housing Director Triggers Fraud Investigation over Harvey Funds appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: GLO Reimbursement Program Helped Rebuild 2961 Homes While Houstonā€™s Helped Only 119

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) announced last week that it has successfully completed its Reimbursement Program from Hurricane Harvey. It was a first-of-its-kind program and concluded after providing nearly $86 million to almost 3,000 Texas homeowners. The GLO also announced that it had reconstructed its 2,500th home under its Harvey Homeowner Assistance Program. Two [ā€¦]

The post GLO Reimbursement Program Helped Rebuild 2961 Homes While Houstonā€™s Helped Only 119 appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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Reduce Flooding: City of Houston Couldnā€™t Even Give Away Harvey Aid Due to Bureaucratic Bungling

As a December 31st deadline expired, approximately $162 million ā€“ allocated by HUD to reimburse homeowners in the City of Houston for repairs they made after Harvey ā€“ remained unused. The City had worked on the reimbursement program for TWO years. Yet in all that time, the Cityā€™s Department of Housing and Community Development successfully [ā€¦]

The post City of Houston Couldnā€™t Even Give Away Harvey Aid Due to Bureaucratic Bungling appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

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