At a public meeting, frustrated residents criticized Houston’s $314M disaster recovery plan for excluding housing repairs after last year’s storms.
HOUSTON — In a community meeting on Monday, Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department began gathering public feedback on its proposed plan to spend $314.6 million in federal disaster recovery funding.
The online meeting was the first of three scheduled for this month. Frustrated residents complained that the city’s plan overlooks one of the most pressing needs: housing.
The money was granted to Houston by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help the city recover from last year’s derecho, Hurricane Beryl, and a flooding event in the Kingwood area.
However, the city’s draft plan doesn’t include any money for housing repair or reconstruction, despite estimates that severe storms created more than $229 million in housing-related needs.
On Monday, residents made their concerns clear. When asked how they thought the money should be spent, many mentioned housing.
“We definitely need money for the housing,” one participant said. “Over 300 million dollars and no dollars of that projected for housing is deeply concerning.
“Channeling these funds toward housing development is really critical in terms of disaster recovery,” another added.
Instead, the city’s proposal includes more than $150 million for backup generators at public facilities, $56 million for emergency vehicles, $40 million for homeless services, $32 million to create new debris repositories and other investments.
Mike Nichols, director of Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department, said the funding can’t meet every need, though he emphasized that housing remains a top priority.
He also pointed to past recovery efforts where the city directed a significant portion of federal dollars toward housing.
“In fact, more than 80% of our previous federal allocations, totaling nearly $775 million, was dedicated to housing-related programs,” Nichols said.
Still, the lack of new housing support in this plan has raised alarms for some city leaders and advocacy groups. Councilmember Tiffany Thomas, who chairs the housing committee, said the city’s proposal doesn’t reflect what residents have been asking for.
“Houstonians are very clear that housing is a priority,” she said. “We’re spending more than $40 million on homeless, which is a noble thing, but homelessness is a housing issue. Where are these people going to go if we don’t invest in the inventory to make sure people are stabilized, especially after a disaster?”
Julia Orduña with the nonprofit Texas Housers, said the funding was never meant to patch city infrastructure, but to help people still living with storm damage or vulnerable to the next one.
“These funds aren’t meant to fix the city’s budget gaps,” Orduña said. “They’re for people whose homes are damaged, who have mold, and the risk of the next storm could actually create more devastation for these communities.”
The city’s plan is not final. Public comment will remain open for several weeks. Two additional virtual meetings are planned for June 12 and June 17, and residents can also submit feedback through an online survey.