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HUD allocates $314 million to Houston for disaster recovery; $151 million set for backup power
Summary
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $314,000,000 in Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery funds for Houston, including $151,000,000 earmarked for a city-led power protection initiative to install backup generators at strategic public facilities.
Mayor Whitmire and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner announced that HUD has allocated $314,000,000 in Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to the city of Houston, with $151,000,000 directed to a power protection initiative led by Chief Recovery and Resilience Officer Angela Blanchard.
The announcement said the power protection initiative will place backup generators at “over a 100 strategic locations,” including multi-service centers, police stations, fire stations and libraries. Mayor Whitmire said, “So we've set out and identified over a 100 strategic locations. All of our multi services, police stations, fire stations, libraries, under this plan. And thanks to HUD, we're gonna put backup generators.”
HUD Secretary Scott Turner framed the federal role as supportive. “You're the ones that have lived through the destruction. You know best how to rebuild your city. You know your people. You know your needs better than any bureaucrat a 100, a thousand miles away in DC ever could know your city,” Turner said, adding, “And I support you. We're great facilitators at HUD. We're great conveners at HUD, but the real work is being done here on the ground.”
City officials said some of the CDBG-DR funds will also be used on homelessness services and home repairs tied to disaster recovery; following the announcement the mayor and the HUD secretary toured the Harris Center to discuss homelessness. The announcement did not specify a timetable for generator installations, the precise list of beneficiary facilities, or the implementation lead beyond naming the chief recovery and resilience officer.
CDBG-DR is a federal disaster-recovery grant program administered by HUD. The city identified the power-protection effort and homelessness/home-repair projects as uses for the funds, but officials did not provide a detailed breakdown of remaining allocations during the announcement.
The city will need to complete program design and federal approval steps before funds are disbursed and work begins; speakers described HUD’s role as facilitative rather than operational.
