Harris County is one step closer to getting more than $1.1 billion in federal Harvey relief. County commissioners approved Tuesday an action plan for how it would spend the block grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The plan must now get approval from the Texas General Land Office, then from HUD. All that means the programs the grant would fund won’t get up and running until at least November 1.
That’s going to be a long wait for some, as Moselle West of the Texas Organizing Project told commissioners during the public hearing before the vote.
“People that you are charged with representing here at the county are on the verge of being evicted because they can’t afford to bring their home back to livable conditions and pay the mortgage,” West said.
The plan includes funds for buying out 290 homes. Several of the public speakers raised concerns that the amount of money on offer would not be enough to afford new homes in Harris County outside a floodplain.
