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Nearly 200 homes in Travis County were damaged by July flooding
Nearly 200 homes in the Big Sandy Creek neighborhood in northwestern Travis County were damaged by flooding on July 5, according to a report released Monday by county officials. Of the homes affected, 71 were mobile homes and 127 were single-family houses.
Travis County is offering short term housing, temporary property tax relief and waiving permitting fees for people rebuilding their homes. Residents can also apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but its unlikely those funds will sufficiently cover a homeowner’s rebuild expenses.
To help fill those gaps, the Central Texas Community Foundation launched a fundraiser with a goal of raising $10 million to support people in Travis and Williamson counties. The nonprofit opened applications Tuesday for people in need of cash to rebuild or repair their homes.
Amy Merida, the executive director of Central Texas Community Foundation, said more than $1.2 million has been raised so far.
“The person who gives $5 is worth it. When an army of people give what they can, what they have, they can change the world,” Merida said. “Every dollar counts.”
Travis County is also facing significant costs to clean up public spaces and repair infrastructure.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
More than 46,000 cubic yards of debris have been removed from the Big Sandy Creek neighborhood — enough to fill well over 3,000 dump trucks, according to Cynthia McDonald, Travis County executive for transportation and natural resources. Travis County has spent $1 million on debris removal alone, and it anticipates spending roughly $5 million to $6 million more.
Travis County is applying for assistance from the FEMA, but officials are concerned federal funding will be delayed and insufficient.
County commissioners will likely temporarily raise property taxes to pay for those repairs, with the hope of raising $42 million.
“We either have to follow these FEMA guidelines that often 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,” Travis County Judge Andy Brown said.