According to a report issued Monday by county officials, flooding on July 5 destroyed over 200 homes in the Big Sandy Creek subdivision in northeastern Travis County. A total of 127 single-family dwellings and 71 mobile homes were among the impacted residences.
For those rebuilding their houses, Travis County is providing short-term accommodation, temporary property tax relief, and waivers of permitting fees. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also offers aid to residents, however it’s doubtful that the money will be enough to pay a homeowner’s rebuilding costs.
The Central Texas Community Foundation started a fundraising campaign with the aim of generating $10 million to help address such gaps and assist residents of Travis and Williamson counties. Applications for those in need of financial assistance to rebuild or repair their houses were opened by the nonprofit on Tuesday.
More than $1.2 million has been raised thus far, according to Amy Merida, executive director of the Central Texas Community Foundation.
The individual who donates $5 is valuable. According to Merida, an army of people can transform the world if they offer what they have and what they can. Every dollar matters.
The expenditures of maintaining infrastructure and cleaning up public areas in Travis County are likewise high.
According to Cynthia McDonald, Travis County executive for transportation and natural resources, more than 46,000 cubic yards of debris—enough to fill well over 3,000 dump trucks—have been cleared out of the Big Sandy Creek area. Travis County has already spent $1 million on debris cleanup, and it expects to spend an additional $5–6 million.
Although Travis County has applied for FEMA aid, officials are worried that the federal cash would be inadequate and delayed.
Property taxes will probably be temporarily raised by county commissioners in an attempt to raise $42 million for such repairs.
Judge Andy Brown of Travis County stated, “We either have to follow these FEMA guidelines, which frequently take a long time, sometimes way longer than we want to, or we say you know what we’re just going to pay for it because we don’t want people to wait for this service.”
As part of the Austin Monitor’s reporting collaboration with KUT, this story was created.
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