Gov. Perry Requests Funding to Expedite Temporary Housing for Ike Victims

Press Release

Gov. Perry Requests Funding to Expedite Temporary Housing for Ike Victims

Directs TDHCA to develop disaster contingency housing program

Gov. Rick Perry requested in a letter on November 26, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provide immediate funding to establish an alternative temporary housing program to augment the existing FEMA temporary housing program for victims of Hurricane Ike.

"Hurricane Ike's landfall in South East Texas destroyed or flooded approximately 100,000 homes and left half a million Texans homeless," Gov. Perry said. "Texans need and deserve a safe place to live while recovering from this devastating storm. With alternative housing funds from FEMA, we will be able to work with local officials to ensure that all Texans are in safe and adequate housing as soon as possible."

The governor's immediate priority is to find ways for the state to mitigate the housing shortages in coastal areas. Perry's request would create a Texas alternative housing program to expedite the overall effort in providing Texans with adequate temporary housing by acquiring safe manufactured homes, mobile homes and travel trailers for victims. The governor has requested $300 million from the FEMA disaster relief fund to assist with the creation of the program.

The Governor has also directed the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to develop a contingency program for temporary housing by creating a turnkey operation that local jurisdictions are able to leverage in future catastrophic disasters.

"After a disaster strikes, the faster a family can rebuild their homes and lives, the faster they can reclaim a sense of normalcy," Gov. Perry said. "Ensuring that our displaced residents have a safe place to live as they rebuild is a necessary step to recovery. We are working to make sure that happens now and in the future."

During the 2008 hurricane season, the Texas coast was battered by three hurricanes and a major tropical storm within a 90 day period, resulting in the simultaneous designation of all Texas coastal counties as presidential disaster areas for the first time in the state's history. Hurricane Ike may prove to be the costliest disaster in the history of Texas.

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