Houston Housing and Community Development

News

City’s Harvey Recovery Map Shows Lake Houston Area Has Received Little Assistance

Five years after Hurricane Harvey, the City of Houston’s Harvey Recovery Map shows that in the Lake Houston Area less than 100 families have received some form of financial assistance. That’s out of 16,000 homes and 3,300 businesses that flooded in the Lake Houston Area during Harvey. Breakdown by Program To be more precise, the […]

The post City’s Harvey Recovery Map Shows Lake Houston Area Has Received Little Assistance appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

Read More
News

Top Stories of 2021 in Review

Below are my personal picks for the top flood-mitigation stories of 2021. The Fight for Funding In 2019, Commissioners Court established “equity” guidelines that prioritized projects in Low-to-Moderate Income watersheds. Then this year: Harris County won no US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Grants in the first round of Harvey competition. To compensate […]

The post Top Stories of 2021 in Review appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

Read More
News

Harvey Victim Denied Aid for Not Communicating After Contacting City 17 Times

A Harvey flood victim was denied aid because, the city says, she didn’t respond to the Houston Housing and Community Development Department’s (HCDD) invitation to submit an application on May 14, 2020. However, the invitation got lost in the victim’s email and she didn’t learn of it until September 7, 2021, when the City first […]

The post Harvey Victim Denied Aid for Not Communicating After Contacting City 17 Times appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

Read More
News

New GLO Review Slams Houston on Five Counts Relating to Harvey Relief

Two months ago, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) launched a review of Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department (HHCD) after Mayor Sylvester Turner allegedly tried to steer a $14 million affordable-housing contract using HUD money toward his former law partner. The GLO review, released Tuesday, notes both findings and corrective actions required of Houston […]

The post New GLO Review Slams Houston on Five Counts Relating to Harvey Relief appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

Read More
News

Flood Digest: Updates on TWDB Grants, Affordable Housing Investigations, Subsidence

Below are updates on three items recently in the news: Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) Grants, Affordable Housing Investigations, and Subsidence. Texas Water Development Board Grants Affecting Houston Region Last week, I posted a story about flood mitigation assistance grants being considered by the TWDB. The Houston region qualified for eight and the TWDB approved […]

The post Flood Digest: Updates on TWDB Grants, Affordable Housing Investigations, Subsidence appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

Read More
News

How to Speed Up Flood Assistance

Since Harvey, Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department has been criticized severely by HUD, the GLO, media, and flood victims alike for poor performance and non-performance in flood assistance efforts. Thursday, Keith Bynam, the Interim Director of the Department, and Temika Jones, the Department’s Assistant Director and Chief Financial Officer, informed city council members about […]

The post How to Speed Up Flood Assistance appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

Read More
News

Bombshells in Council Meeting Raise More and Bigger Questions about Housing and Community Development

Weeks ago, Mayor Sylvester Turner said he would provide a complete explanation for allegations of interference in a $15 million contract that would have benefitted his former business partner. Many people thought that would happen today at a joint meeting between the Budget & Fiscal Affairs and Housing & Community Development Committees. But it didn’t. The […]

The post Bombshells in Council Meeting Raise More and Bigger Questions about Housing and Community Development appeared first on Reduce Flooding.

Read More