Kingwood Residents Push For Disaster Declaration Over Flood Damage

Residents of a Kingwood neighborhood are pressing for a federal disaster declaration, following last week’s flooding. But, Harris County leaders are having trouble obliging them.

Homes in the working-class neighborhood of Elm Grove took up to 18 inches of water last week. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she’s determined to help, but she said there are minimum levels of damage she has to prove before she can declare a disaster.

“Even if we did, I wouldn’t do that to offer folks false hope,” Hidalgo said. “Because no aid will come unless the federal government sees that we’ve submitted applications showing that we meet a certain threshold in damages in Harris County, in uninsured damages, $17 million, plus $42 million in uninsured damages in the state of Texas.”

Residents of the Elm Grove Village Community Association told county commissioners they shouldn’t be penalized for being “the poor section of a rich neighborhood.” They vowed to get all the documentation needed to ensure a disaster declaration.