The U.S. Department of Housing and Development announced on Jan. 7 nearly $12 billion in disaster grants for communities still recovering from national disasters in 2023.

What it means

According to a news release, grants will be distributed across 23 states, 15 counties, eight cities and one territory, including Texas, the city of Houston and Harris County. Texas will receive approximately $555 million, Harris County $67 million and Houston $314 million for disaster relief related to Hurricane Beryl and the Lake Houston flood.

The Lake Houston area received major flooding in early May and damaged almost 800 homes, according to previous Community Impact coverage. A little over a month later, a Category 1 hurricane dubbed as Hurricane Beryl swept through the Texas coast and caused an estimated $32 billion in damages.

The new grant funding is intended to support disaster relief from both storms, assist in long-term recovery, restore infrastructure and help with disaster mitigation efforts in the most impacted and distressed areas of the region. According to the release, the funding can be used to:

• Replace damaged affordable housing and build it back more resiliently
• Strengthen infrastructure through repairs, upgrades and activities to increase the resilience of public facilities, including roadways, water systems and utilities
• Support economic revitalization, such as support for small businesses, creation of jobs and resident assistance
• Implement disaster mitigation measures to reduce risk of damage from future extreme weather and disaster events

“Over the last two years, too many communities have been impacted by devastating disasters—damaging homes, destroying infrastructure and stretching local capacity to recover,” HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman said in the release. "The impacts of these funds will be felt for years to come, especially for disaster survivors and communities in the most impacted areas.”