Hurricane Laura’s timing is a bit ominous. It's moving through the Gulf of Mexico just in time as the third anniversary of Hurricane Harvey.
It's hard to imagine three years after Harvey, the City of Houston still hasn't been able to help hundreds of victims whose homes were damaged or destroyed. Now, Houstonians will get the help they need via federal funds. The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday against Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and in favor of the state's General Land Office taking over to help residents rebuild. State Senator Paul Bettencourt applauds the ruling.
“The General Land Office is going to take these remaining thousand applications and get the job done,” Bettencourt said. “I wish the City of Houston and specifically the mayor hadn’t wasted tax payer money fighting it in court.”
According to the state's General Land Office, the City of Houston’s only fixed or rebuilt 76 homes since the program launched in January of 2019.