Tough to get Harvey help: People in Galveston County risk missing out
HOUSTON – Billions of dollars have been appropriated by Congress for the Southeast Texas recovery in connection with Hurricane Harvey.
But some homeowners might miss out on receiving that help because they don’t fit into the right category.
“The net effect is going to be that we’re going to get a lot of money that we’re not going to spend,” Galveston County Judge Mark Henry said. “We’re not going to be able to find enough low- to moderate-income property owners with Hurricane Harvey damage to spend the money on, and it’s going to look bad because we’re going to end up not spending this money that was appropriated.”
The challenge will be for homeowners whose property value is too much to meet qualifications to receive funding.
The state, which is responsible for distributing the money, is short on critical information, KPRC Investigates reporter Robert Arnold said.
"What percentage of people do you have in the state who do not have insurance, who have storm damage from Harvey -- yet a year later, still cannot afford to fix that storm damage?" he asked. “They’re still gathering that data.”
We have much more on the challenge of recovering from Harvey, the impact of recent flooding, the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Ike and the progress in protecting against the next big storm.
Largest minority suppliers diversity expo of its kind
The expo, set for Sept. 19 and 20 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, is very much unlike most others, said Ingrid Robinson, the president of the Houston Minority Suppliers Diversity Council.
“Usually, there are people there trying to sell to you,” she said. “At our expo, instead, there are people there looking to buy from minority-owned companies, so the corporations are in the booths and the minority businesses walk the aisles and meet the corporations and find out who needs the product or service that they offer.”
What makes the expo a win-win situation for everyone? We'll discuss on this week's Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.
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More information:
· Mark Henry, Galveston County Judge
· https://bit.ly/2OiOzBp
· Phone: 409-726-8621
· Twitter: @GalvCoTX
· Robert Arnold, KPRC2 Investigates
· https://bit.ly/2N8SiVL
· Phone: 713-778-4843
· Twitter: @KPRC2Robert
· Ingrid Robinson, President, Houston Minority Suppliers Diversity Council
· http://hmsdc.org/
· Phone: 713-271-7805
· Email: Ingrid.robinson@hmsdc.org
· Twitter: @HoustonMSDC