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Hurricane Ike
March 13, 2009
Proposed windstorm changes could affect rainy day fund, coastal residents
Coastal homeowners would pay more for windstorm insurance and be required to purchase federal flood coverage under a sweeping plan filed this week by the chairman of the House Committee on Insurance.
In the event of a hurricane driving down the balance in the state’s last-resort insurance fund overseen by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, Rep. John Smithee’s proposal envisions the state lending up to $1.5 billion from its “rainy day” fund to cover claims.
The fund, which serves Texans in 14 coastal counties and a portion of Harris County near Galveston Bay, was depleted last year by claims associated with Hurricane Ike.
“We have to do something,” Smithee said. “We’re going to have significant problems with a major storm this time,” both in initially covering claims and ultimately replenishing the TWIA fund.
Smithee said the plan was deliberately filed as House Bill 911 to signify that windstorm coverage is an emergency.
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February 3, 2009
UPDATED: State has $134 million in unpaid hurricane bills
Texas has $134 million in outstanding bills from its hurricane response last summer and fall, Emergency Management Chief Jack Colley told a Senate Finance Committee meeting Tuesday.
That money is due to companies that provided emergency busing, shelter and more during the hurricane response and recovery.
The state is awaiting federal reimbursement for most of those expenses. In the meantime, the companies that helped the state in a crisis are going unpaid.
“We’re not broke,” Sen. Steve Ogden said. “Why aren’t we paying these bills?”
Colley referred that question to Gov. Rick Perry’s office.
Hurricanes Ike, Dolly and Gustav cost state agencies $1.7 billion for damage to state property and the disaster response.
The state’s tab for hurricane recovery could swell if the state pays the local entities’ share to repair the $3.8 billion in damage. The federal government requires a 25 percent local share, which would cost the local counties $950 million.
“It’s going to bankrupt those counties,” Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, said. “A lot of people have sort of moved on from what’s happened,” Williams said. “You don’t realize the human suffering that’s going on down there. They’re still trying to pick up the pieces.”
Perry on Tuesday also designated several hurricane-related items as emergencies, a step that allows the Legislature to address the items within the first 30 days of the session.
UPDATE: Gov. Rick Perry’s spokeswoman Allison Castle said the state is working on freeing up money to pay the companies since the federal money is so slow in coming.
Perry has asked for the $150 million for a disaster contingency fund in the upcoming budget to avoid delay in future payments, Castle said.
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December 1, 2008
Hurricane aid confirmed a day after senators' announcement
A day after Texas Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn announced an extension of federal aid related to Hurricane Ike — and Gov. Rick Perry’s response that the senators spoke prematurely — the White House last week said that the aid was coming.
President Bush made additional disaster assistance available to Texas communities affected by Hurricane Ike from Sept. 7 to Oct. 2 by authorizing an extension of 100 percent federal funding for debris removal, including direct federal assistance.
Peek at our updated Hutchison-Cornyn-Perry blog on this topic here.
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November 25, 2008
UPDATED: Senators forecast of Ike relief confirmed by White House
Texas U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn announced today the federal government has decided to pay 100 percent of the costs for debris removal in Texas counties affected by Hurricane Ike for a six-month period dating back to Oct. 26.
“This decision was made by… President (Bush) and will extend into the next administration,” Hutchison says in the senators’ joint press release. “After this six-month period, we will assess debris removal efforts to see if additional federal assistance is needed.”
But Gov. Rick Perry’s office later advised that no such decision has been reached.
Perry spokesman Mark Miner called the senators’ press release “factually inaccurate.” Spokeswoman Allison Castle said FEMA has given the state no such notice and the White House is unaware of the decision.
What the hey?
Hutchison spokesman Matt Mackowiak said Hutchison was assured this morning by Michael Chertoff, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, that the six-month extension is coming. He said too that FEMA’s administrator talked about the extension in Beaumont today.
Mackowiak added later Tuesday evening that Hutchison didn’t get assurance from Chertoff, but did discuss the issue. He stressed that the extension was announced in Beaumont, though there wasn’t immediately a local news report on it.
“It could be finalized by late tonight or tomorrow morning,” Mackowiak said. “The final notification will come from the White House. Our expectation was it would come today.”
UPDATE: The next day, Wednesday, the president made additional disaster assistance available to Texas communities affected by Hurricane Ike during the period of Sept. 7 to Oct. 2, 2008, by authorizing an extension of 100 percent federal funding for debris removal, including direct federal assistance.
Miner, sticking by his initial comments, said Perry’s office believes that the senators jumped the gun by announcing the aid before it had been approved by FEMA and the White House. Hutchison’s office had no immediate additional comment.
Perry last week aired disappointment at what he called the federal government’s lack of response to the state’s demand for 18 months of relief for debris removal, reconstruction and other hurricane-related needs.
A fair bet: The cost of Hurricane Ike’s wrath will be the subject of state-federal wrestling for months, especially during the 2009 legislative session starting in January. Such fussing could prove vivid if statewide elected leaders — all of them Republicans — disagree over how things are shaking out in Washington.
Could be too that disagreements extend to the hustings in the 2010 election year, when Hutchison could be challenging Perry for governor.
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