AUSTIN, Texas — The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded more than $20 million to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for providing safety, support and security to areas affected by Hurricane Harvey.
More than 1,800 DPS employees including state troopers and criminal investigators as well as communication and aviation operators were deployed to areas affected by Harvey to set up barricades, direct traffic, provide airborne search and rescue missions and other public safety services during and following the storm.
The FEMA grant covered 100 percent of the projects’ costs because DPS completed its emergency work within 30 days of the disaster declaration.
The grant comes from FEMA’s Public Assistance grant program, which reimburses eligible applicants for actions taken in the immediate response to and during recovery from a disaster. These eligible applicants include states, federally recognized tribal governments, U.S. territories, local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations.
FEMA’s Public Assistance grant program provides project funding directly to the state for disbursement to applicants. The grants to DPS will be disbursed through the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
For additional information on Hurricane Harvey and Texas recovery, visit the Hurricane Harvey disaster web page at www.fema.gov/disaster/4332, Facebook at www.facebook.com/FEMAharvey, the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account at www.twitter.com/FEMARegion6 or the Texas Division of Emergency Management website at https://www.dps.texas.gov/dem/.
