One Year After The July 4 Floods, SOS Calls On Local Leaders, Texas, and the Trump Administration To Finish The Recovery They Promised
urvivors say every level of government has fallen short, and each one has a job it can start
TEXAS — One year after devastating floods submerged central Texas, survivors are still living in campers on the foundations of the homes they lost and FEMA has approved just $41 million in individual assistance across the ten counties with federal disaster declarations, short of the $18 to $22 billion in total damage and economic loss the floods caused. Survivors have been clear about what they need, and they have been clear that no level of government has delivered it.
"Today, we mourn the 139 lives lost caused by the Central Texas floods one year ago. Our heart goes out to the victims, the families of these victims, and to the central Texas community that is still struggling to recover to this day. The families of Kerr County and Sandy Creek did everything right, and the federal and state governments that were supposed to protect them failed," said Sabotaging Our Safety Advisory Council member Rafael Lemaitre. "One year later, these families haven’t gotten relief or closure and Central Texas remains at-risk of another disaster. President Trump's answer to the tragedy was to shrink the federal programs those families needed in the first place. Now, Central Texas is more susceptible to another disaster than ever. Recovery is not finished when the cameras leave. The families of Central Texas deserve real changes and a real space to recover in peace.”
The Trump administration must fund the recovery it promised: FEMA needs the staff and funding to process the applications still sitting undecided a year later. Instead of doing so, the FEMA Review Council that Governor Abbott sits on has recommended raising the bar for when the federal government takes responsibility after a disaster, shifting costs onto states, and shrinking the national flood insurance program that flood survivors depend on.
Governor Abbott must make disaster recovery a permanent state commitment: The Texas Forever Fund would establish dedicated state funding for recovery so that survivors are not forced to compete with schools and hospitals every time the water rises.
County governments must clear the path home: Counties moved quickly to use their disaster authorities after the flood. Survivors are asking them to move just as quickly now: repair the washed-out roads and bridges residents still cannot count on, cut the new permitting hurdles slowing families trying to rebuild, and install the early warning systems that would save lives in the next flood.
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