AUSTIN – In December, under the leadership of Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., the Texas General Land Office celebrated completion of the final home rebuilt through the Hurricane Harvey Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP) disaster recovery mission. The final home, located in Houston, marked a major milestone of completion in the Harvey recovery effort, which consisted of both home rebuilding and repair reimbursement programs. The programs were funded through a Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“The Texas General Land Office is proud to be a national leader in helping communities rebuild and recover from major disasters,” said Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D. “Administering federal grants is extremely complicated, but the GLO’s dedicated recovery experts never quit. Our mission is to serve the people we are supposed to serve and do it well. Today, the homes and lives of more than 13,500 Texas families have been rebuilt thanks to the perseverance and dedication of the GLO’s Hurricane Harvey disaster recovery team and our partners.”
Initially the GLO allocated more than $1.3 billion to rebuild homes in 48 federally designated eligible counties impacted by Hurricane Harvey while Harris County and the city of Houston administered similar programs with funds allocated directly by HUD. Due to lack of progress, by 2021, the city and county’s programs were fully transferred to the GLO. The GLO rebuilt 8,750 homes for families impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Additionally, nearly 3,000 homeowners received more than $86 million from the GLO’s Homeowner Reimbursement Program in reimbursements for out-of-pocket home repairs. Houston and Harris County’s programs reimbursed 1,700 homeowners for repairs and collectively rebuilt 408 homes. Combined across the GLO, Houston and Harris County programs, more than 9,100 homes were rebuilt, and more than 4,400 repairs were reimbursed across 49 counties for Texas families impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
The Texas GLO has also helped more than 700 homeowners impacted by Imelda, Laura, and repetitive flooding events in the Rio Grande Valley.
In July, the GLO successfully launched applications for both the home rebuilding and repair reimbursement programs for Texans impacted by the 2024 Disasters, including Hurricane Beryl, across 27 federally eligible counties. The City of Houston and Harris County received direct allocations from HUD to administer housing recovery funding directly.
In December the GLO held the first preconstruction meeting for Shirley Theodore whose Alvin home was devastated by Hurricane Beryl. Soon, Shirley will be celebrating 2026 with a safe and resilient new home thanks to the GLO! Find more information at recovery.texas.gov/apply.
In total, across all disaster recovery housing programs, the GLO helped more than 14,000 (and counting) Texas families have a safe and resilient home for the holidays!