April 20, 2018

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This week, I was in Austin for several hearings. On Wednesday, the House Committee on Public Education met to discuss school finance, public school accountability, and cyber bullying. The committee spent several hours discussing these issues and their accompanying legislation from the 85th Legislature. You can watch the hearing here.

On Thursday, the Commission on Public School Finance met to discuss alternative sources of revenue to fund the foundation school program. You can watch the archived meeting here. If you'd like to offer comment to all of the commission members, please email us at [email protected]. You can also email me directly by clicking here.

This morning the Expenditures Work Group is meeting. You will be able to tune in live beginning at 9am. You can find the broadcast here. If you are interested in attending in person, the meeting will be taking place at the Texas Capitol Extension in committee hearing room E2.030. You can find the agenda here under the "Meetings" tab.

There is still time to offer your input on an interest survey relating to flooding for Harris County. The results from survey will be used to establish housing programs needed by the community to recover from Hurricane Harvey. This is extremely important, and I encourage you to fill it out today.

Please fill out the brief interest form at this link.

I hope that you and your family have a great weekend.

Sincerely, 

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Floods are the nation’s most common natural disaster and cause millions of dollars in damage each year. Maintaining a flood insurance policy is an effective way to protect yourself against the cost of flood damage.

Homeowners and commercial property policies specifically exclude coverage for damage from flooding from rising waters. To protect yourself from losses caused by most flooding, you'll need to buy a separate flood insurance policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) administered by FEMA. Flood insurance policies have a 30-day waiting period after the purchase date before coverage takes effect, so if you do not have a policy, you should get one as soon as possible. For more information about flood insurance, call the NFIP at 1-888-FLOOD 29 (356-6329) or visit its website at floodsmart.gov.

 

If your property is located in one of Texas' 14 coastal counties, or parts of southeastern Harris County, you will likely only be able to get insurance coverage for windstorm or hail damage from a special insurance pool called the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. To qualify for TWIA coverage, your property must pass a windstorm inspection and must meet certain windstorm-resistant building standards. You can't buy or change TWIA coverage once a hurricane has entered the Gulf of Mexico. For more information about windstorm coverage, call TWIA at 1-800-788-8247 or visit TWIA's website.

Some people resist buying flood insurance in the faulty belief that, if flooding occurs, the government will bail them out. Federal disaster assistance is available only if a flood (or other disaster) is so large and widespread it warrants a major disaster declaration from the president. More than 90 percent of disasters are not presidentially declared. In the majority of floods, victims are on their own – unless they have flood insurance. And even for floods that are declared major disasters, the aid available is limited. Most assistance is in the form of loans that must be repaid, with interest.

 

Flood insurance is advisable even if your neighborhood is not in a floodplain. Floods can, and do occur almost anywhere. Nearly 30 percent of NFIP claims come from properties considered to be at low or moderate risk. For more information, contact your local insurance agent or company or call the NFIP toll-free number 1-800-427-4661. Remember, there is a 30-day waiting period before new policies take effect, so don’t delay.

With the potential for severe weather approaching this spring, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reminds Texans they can purchase certain items tax-free during the state’s sales tax holiday for emergency preparation supplies, from April 28 to April 30.

“The severe weather we had last year — particularly Hurricane Harvey — was a stark reminder that Texans should be prepared for emergencies at all times,” Hegar said. “This tax holiday allows people to save money while ensuring they have the supplies they need before an emergency situation occurs.”

Read more about tax-free items here!

Governor Greg Abbott announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has granted Texas’ request to extend the deadline for Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) for Hurricane Harvey survivors. TSA helps displaced individuals who are unable to return to their homes find short-term shelter in hotels or other temporary housing locations. The TSA deadline has been extended from April 23, 2018 to May 31, 2018 with a check-out date of June 1, 2018.

 

“With many Texas families still unable to return home after Harvey, we are committed to ensuring they have a place to stay as the recovery continues,” said Governor Abbott. “We will continue to do everything in our power to help Texans get back in their homes and get our communities rebuilt as quickly as possible. I thank our federal partners and FEMA for helping provide this important assistance for those in need.”

 

Disaster victims with questions regarding their TSA program eligibility or status may contact the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 for assistance.

As you may know, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is developing a State Flood Assessment for Texas. The goals of the State Flood Assessment include:

TWDB has been hosting several workshops around the state over the past month to gather stakeholder input. The Houston-Galveston workshop will include:

The workshop will be held in Houston on Friday, April 20, from 10am-12pm at the Harris County Flood Control District (7522 Prairie Oak Drive, 77086). We are looking for floodplain administrators and others with flood-related responsibilities to participate. 

To learn more about the State Flood Assessment effort, please visit TexasFloodAssessment.com.

Our office is always ready to assist you. Call or email us and we will do our best to help. Many State Agencies also have hotlines or citizen assistance offices to assist you. That contact information is available at this link, in alphabetical order: 

http://www.lrl.texas.gov/genInfo/stateAgencies.cfm

All of the relevant information our office has fathered in regard to response and recovery of Hurricane Harvey is posted immediately to our Facebook page. Be sure to "like" us so that you can have the most up to date information. Click the image below to find our page.

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