Montgomery County submits application for $10 million grant for home buyout program

Updated 12:30 p.m. Jan. 29: This story has been updated to include the number of homes that were identified by ZIP code as well as the number of total properties, which was incorrectly stated in Commissioners Court to be 37.

Montgomery County is moving forward on its home buyout program following damages by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and other storms in 2016.

Darren Hess, the director of Montgomery County’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, spoke at Commissioners Court on Jan. 27 and asked commissioners to approve submitting an application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a $10 million grant.

The buyout program is for homes that have suffered repetitive loss from flooding, Hess said. His office has identified 35 properties throughout Montgomery County, he said.

“About two months ago you authorized me to proceed with hiring a contractor to develop the grant application. We’ve done that, and now we are prepared and ready to submit [it],” Hess said.

The properties are distributed across several ZIP codes:

77304: 3 properties

77365: 4 properties

77362: 3 properties

77357: 6 properties

77355: 2 properties

77302: 6 properties

77386: 4 properties

77365: 2 properties

77301: 2 properties

77372: 3 properties

Commissioners unanimously approved the item.