By the Numbers 028
Ike Update: Six Months Later, $1.8 Billion Moving Recovery Forward
Release Date: March 13, 2009
Release Number: 1791-442
» More Information on Texas Hurricane Ike
AUSTIN, Texas -- Six months after Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas upper Gulf Coast, Texans are rebuilding and moving forward in their recovery from the disaster with the help of nearly $1.8 billion in federal and state disaster assistance.
The Texas Governor's Division of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), partners in the state's disaster recovery, provide the following summary of assistance approved as of March 12:
- More than $519 million in disaster assistance for housing, disaster-related needs and disaster unemployment assistance has been approved for Hurricane Ike recovery.
- The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved nearly $584 million in low-interest disaster loans for homeowners, renters, and businesses of all sizes.
- More than $93 million for short-term, transitional sheltering in hotels for eligible applicants.
- To date, more than $602 million in public assistance funding has been obligated and sent to the state of Texas for local public infrastructure repair and debris removal costs.
- FEMA has provided temporary manufactured housing for nearly 3,600 applicants or 98 percent of applicants eligible for direct housing assistance.
- Nearly 8,000 Texans are in temporary housing under the Disaster Housing Assistance Program, which is funded by FEMA and administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- Nearly 21 million cubic yards, or 95 percent of all eligible debris, has been cleared from disaster-affected counties.
- One FEMA/State Disaster Recovery Center remains open out of 130 recovery centers that have served the affected counties in the disaster. Nearly 159,000 visits have been made to the centers.
To follow up on applications, go online to www.fema.gov/ike or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585 for the speech- and hearing-impaired.
FEMA leads and supports the nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation, to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the nation from all hazards including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters.
Last Modified: Monday, 16-Mar-2009 08:24:38