December 5, 2017

 

 


  


Dear Friends and Neighbors:
 
On October 31, 2017, Governor Greg Abbott submitted to Congress a request for federal funding in the amount of $61 Billion to repair and rebuild public infrastructure in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The request includes such items as:        
  • $12 Billion for Galveston County Coastal Spine Project (the so-called "Ike Dike")
  • $6 Billion for non-structural flood risk management: Buffalo Bayou, and Addicks and Barker Reservoirs
  • $800 Million Harris County Buyout Program
  • $500 Million Cypress Creek Reservoir Project ("Plan 5" or the 3rd Reservoir)
  • $3 Million for the Addicks and Barker Reservoir Dam System Improvement Study
  • $3 Million Metropolitan Houston Regional Watershed Assessment
  • $3 Million Fort Bend County Regional Watershed Assessment
  • $131 Million White Oak Bayou Flood risk management project
  • $457 Million Houston ship channel restoration project
  • $466 Million Houston ship channel hardening and resiliency project
  • $309 Million Harris County Community Services Homeowner buyout and relocation
  • $9 BILLION City of Houston Housing Assistance
  • $4.5 BILLION City of Houston Residential Hazard Mitigation Flood Zone
  • $80 Million Houston ISD Repair Replacement Risk Mitigation
  • $500 Million Houston City FEMA PA Local Cost Share
  • $3.8 BILLION Harris County Community Services Repair Single Family Homes
  • $115 Million Harris County Flood Control Emergency Repairs
This 3rd Supplemental funding request is now stalled in Congress. Part of the issue may be that we had Hurricane Harvey on the Texas gulf coast, Hurricane Irma in Florida, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and the California wild fires all within a month or so of each other, so Hurricane Harvey no longer clearly stands out in the minds of Representatives and Senators from areas unaffected by any of these disasters.
 
Council Member Travis plans to join a delegation from Houston traveling to Washington, D.C. to visit with Congress members to advocate for this much-needed disaster recovery funding. As part of that visit, Council Member Travis hopes to produce a video and Power Point he can provide that will tell our story (a picture is worth a thousand words). As part of that project, we are reaching out to our constituents who experienced the devastating flooding on Houston's west side.
 
Please send us any pictures that you have that shows the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. Whether you have pictures taken during the flooding, immediately thereafter showing the damage to infrastructure or your home, or taken after the water subsided showing the immense debris piles, please forward any pictures you may have to districtg@houstontx.gov . If your pictures are larger than 2-4 Megabytes, please send a series of emails with only one or two pictures attached to each. Otherwise, they may bounce back. Council Member Travis spent weeks traveling all over the District to witness and document the flooding and devastation first hand. We have many pictures and videos of our own and our own experiences to share with Congress, but we want to further enhance explanation of the situation for those in Washington, D.C.
 
Also, if your home is still badly damaged, and you would be willing to allow Council Member Travis and HTV (Houston Television) to visit and videotape the damage, please send us an email. In addition, if you experienced substantial loss and would be willing to be interviewed on videotape, please let us know that too (whether or not you are willing to allow us inside your home).
   
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____________________________________________________________
  
Greg Travis
Houston City Council Member, District G
900 Bagby, 1st Floor
Houston, TX 77002
  
Mailing:
P.O. Box 1562
Houston, TX 77251-1562
  
Phone: 832-393-3007
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