Oct. 9 is the last day to register for the Nov. 6 election AUSTIN, Texas — Hurricane Harvey forced tens of thousands of Texans out of their homes, and more than a year later, many still have not returned. But that won’t prevent you from voting in the Nov. 6 election. If you have relocated, permanently or temporarily, or if your identification is inaccessible or lost, a solution can be found at www.VoteTexas.gov/harvey. To access the information in Spanish, visit www.VoteTexas.gov/es/harvey.   “We understand many Texans are still recovering from the devastation brought by...

Hurricane Harvey Recovery Portal highlights information about grants, housing and training AUSTIN, Texas — Texas communities will find a wide range of support at FEMA’s centralized online resource for governments, nonprofits and Hurricane Harvey survivors working on their long-term recovery.  With a new look, expanded resources and greater accessibility, the Hurricane Harvey Recovery Portal provides round-the-clock access to valuable materials for nonprofits and local, state, federal and tribal governments.  “We want to make it easy for recovery organizations to find out about funding opportunities and philanthropic resources,” said Mark Emmert, FEMA federal...

AUSTIN, Texas – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded more than $3.5 million to the Port Arthur Housing Development for mold removal and cleanout at the Southwood Crossing Apartment complex following Hurricane Harvey.  The complex, consisting of an office building and 20 apartments, was returned to its pre-disaster condition after hurricane damage repairs were completed. This included water mitigation, HVAC service calls, demolition, dehumidification and disinfection of units and structural mitigation.  The cost of the removal and cleanout is more than $3.9 million. The grant of more than $3.5...

AUSTIN, Texas — Torrential rain from Hurricane Harvey flooded Cathy and Larry Pleasants’ home of 24 years in August 2017, damaging the ground floor structure and contents within. The event would have been devastating financially, the Pleasants said, if they hadn’t bought flood insurance a few years earlier. “Until you’ve experienced it, you don’t know what it does,” Larry Pleasants said. “It was just chaos. It was like a bomb went off.” When they bought their home, the Pleasants thought that it would never flood. But they purchased flood insurance in 2011 because...

AUSTIN, Texas – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded more than $1.3 million to the City of Port Aransas for debris removal following Hurricane Harvey.  The city removed more than 280,000 cubic yards of debris after the storm. This grant of more than $1.3 million is the federal share and requires a 10 percent nonfederal match by the applicant, or $154,919. This grant follows a previous award for $3.15 million with a nonfederal match of $350,000. The total cost of the debris removal, so far, is more than $5 million. These...