HOUSTON – The City of Houston has unveiled its proposed disaster recovery action plan following 2024’s Derecho and Hurricane Beryl.
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During the derecho, in May 2024, many people lost power for weeks, and lives were changed in an instant as the windstorm, which in some cases brought winds over 100 mph, struck the city.
Then, many Houston residents were hit again in July when Hurricane Beryl struck the city. Rampant power outages also sparked conversations over accountability with local and state leadership as well as with CenterPoint Energy.
In the action plan, the city estimated ”the total damage and economic loss from Beryl is $28 billion to $32 billion nationwide, including damage to homes, infrastructure, job and wage losses, and government cleanup expenses."
Houston was given $314,645,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The money is meant to support long-term recovery and resilience efforts.
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In the proposed Action Plan for Disaster Recovery, the City of Houston plans to use half of the $314.6M on addressing infrastructure needs. The second largest chunk of the federal funds given to Houston will go to public services.
Click here to read the full draft from the City of Houston.