Governor Greg Abbott spent Friday in a Dickinson neighborhood hit hard by Harvey. He spent time with a family who lost everything and praised the thousands of volunteers spending Spring Break helping with the clean-up.
The sounds of buzz saws, nail guns, and hammers are the sounds of life finally returning to normal for Brandy Sears and her 11-year-old son, Justice, nearly seven months after they literally clung for life on the front wall of their Dickinson home as Harvey came rushing in.
“That wall was God’s hand holding us here, there’s not a doubt in my mind,” said Sears.
On Friday, Sears said she was just two days away from moving back into that home after months of living with family, in motels, in a FEMA trailer, and even having money stolen by a contractor.
“I’ve tried to imagine (moving back in), and it’s so exciting right now,” said Sears. “I don’t even know if I’m gonna be able to sleep Sunday night in my bed.”
Sears, her husband, and two sons are among the 1,200 people being helped by volunteers from Eight Days of Hope, the Texas Rebuild Fund, 4B Disaster Response, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.
“We do it because we love people,” said one of the volunteers from Eight Days of Hope. “We want to serve people.”
Around 4,800 people from around the world came to the Houston area on their own dime to help rebuild between March 10 to March 24.
Officials say those volunteers hail from 48 states, seven countries, and on Friday, from Austin, too.
“We will do more than just rebuild,” said Governor Abbott, shortly after helping volunteers paint part of the interior of the Sears’ home.
Gov. Abbott said the state’s focus is on preventing future flooding: repairing Addicks and Barker reservoirs, building a third reservoir, expanding bayous, and helping homeowners finish repairs.
“The 5 billion dollars in Community Development Block Grant money should be coming and be spent here in Texas within about a month or so,” said Gov. Abbott, referring to the disaster relief dollars the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved in November 2017.
Gov. Abbott also said some of the “tens of billions” of Texas-bound dollars from Congress’ recent nearly $90 billion disaster aid package has already arrived, pointing to money for buyouts and other hazard mitigation in Kingwood.
The Governor says the Army Corps of Engineers is currently working on studies for some projects, and that during their most recent appropriation, Congress allocated $3.2 billion for the building of a coastal spine from Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay.
“Unlike ever before, there had never been money allocated in order to begin that building process,” said Gov. Abbott, who said the Army Corps of Engineers must complete a study before beginning construction.
“Now, finally, we have the funding allocated by the United States Congress to get that done." he said.
Gov. Abbott said his office supports the idea of local governments adding tougher development regulations to mitigate future flooding, just as Harris County has done and the City of Houston is considering.
“At a state level, we support what they’re doing,” said Gov. Abbott. “One thing that we all understand is that we can’t just continue to rebuild over and over again in the same spot that’s been flooded repeatedly.”
Later, he added, “As far as the codes themselves are concerned, that’s something that will have to be done at the local level.”