An Update: Six Months After Historic Wildfires, Texas Recovery Going Strong

AUSTIN, Texas -- As spring arrives in the Lone Star State, recovery from the historic wildfires of late summer 2011 is well under way. There is still work to be done, but the diligent efforts of thousands of survivors and countless other Texans are making a visible difference.

Lending a helping hand are the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), partners in the recovery effort along with other federal agencies, local governments and dozens of volunteer organizations across Texas.

Kevin Hannes, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer (FCO) for the recovery mission, estimates federal assistance alone for Texas survivors, their communities and the state will eventually top $125 million. This projection is for disaster recovery from wildfires that broke out Aug. 30 and later.

“Full recovery from the worst wildfire disaster in Texas history doesn’t come easily or quickly,” said Hannes. “Since the fires first erupted in Bastrop County and scores of other communities last summer, FEMA’s commitment to Texas has been strong, and we will remain a powerful force in the recovery effort until our work here is done.”

Indeed, while the Labor Day 2011 wildfires were still burning in Bastrop County, FEMA specialists, along with their state counterparts and local officials, began walking through fire-ravaged neighborhoods to assess the damages. Thus, when the state of Texas requested a major disaster declaration for Bastrop County on Sept. 9, 2011 -- and received the declaration the same day -- FEMA was already in place and ready to help.

Over the next few weeks, as FEMA approved state requests to expand the scope of federal assistance, the disaster area would grow to 23 counties under the Individual Assistance (IA) program. Moreover, the declaration would eventually encompass 61 counties under the Public Assistance (PA) program, with many of the counties designated for both forms of assistance. Additionally, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program was approved for all 254 Texas counties.

Throughout the past six months, FEMA and state recovery specialists have been in burned out neighborhoods, on the phone and at dozens of Disaster Recovery Centers, listening to applicants’ concerns, helping them apply for assistance and sometimes just lending an ear. By law, federal disaster assistance cannot duplicate insurance coverage, but through FEMA’s IA program more than 1,000 eligible Texans and their families are getting grants to help put them on the road to recovery.

Moreover, FEMA and TDEM have made a special commitment to ensure survivors get the maximum amount of government assistance they are eligible to receive. When survivors have needs that go beyond the scope of government assistance, the FEMA outreach liaisons can put them together with long-term recovery groups in their communities. More than 2,370 survivors have received follow-up phone calls — and an additional $2.1 million is getting to eligible survivors.

Since the Sept. 9 major disaster declaration, nearly $42.2 million in state and federal recovery assistance has already been approved or obligated for homeowners, renters and business owners under the IA program, or to the state, state agencies, local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations under the PA program.

Included in the total is more than $21.1 million in low-interest disaster loans from FEMA’s federal partner, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The federal government’s primary source of funding for rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property, the SBA has already approved loans to 181 homeowners and 13 businesses.

The $42.2 million total includes:

•$11,155,799 in rental assistance and grants to repair and rebuild homes;
•$2,711,340 for other disaster-related needs such as personal property replacement, medical/dental costs and funeral expenses;
•$97,661 in Disaster Unemployment Assistance for workers or the self-employed who lost their jobs or were unable to work due to the disaster;
•$21,100,300 in low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
•$7,133,130 obligated to the state under FEMA’s Public Assistance program for debris removal, protective measures and repairs to public infrastructure.
An additional $13.8 million in FEMA funding has been set aside in Texas for the state-run Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for projects designed to protect lives and property during future fires or to foster safer communities in general. Also, more than $1 million has been provided to the state for a crisis counseling program to help wildfire survivors to deal with any emotional trauma.

Dollar amounts, however, do not tell the full story of the state and the federal family’s commitment to Texans and their communities over the past six months.

Within hours of the disaster declaration, FEMA community relations specialists, including speakers of Spanish and American Sign Language, were canvassing areas of the Bastrop County burn zone to determine survivors’ needs, answer their questions and urge them to register with FEMA for assistance. As the disaster expanded over the next few weeks, dozens of specialists would walk through devastated neighborhoods to reach out to survivors.

At the request of the state, FEMA approved the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program within six hours of the disaster declaration, eventually assisting 406 Texans and their families. The program allowed eligible wildfire evacuees who were unable to return to their homes to stay in hotels or motels until more suitable housing accommodations were available.

Meanwhile, FEMA and TDEM worked jointly to open dozens of recovery centers throughout the disaster-designated counties. Staffed by state and federal recovery specialists, the centers provided information and answers - and at times a shoulder to lean on - to more than 5,000 visitors.

FEMA’s hazard mitigation advisors provided consultations to hundreds of homeowners at more than a dozen recovery centers and home improvement stores in wildfire-affected communities. The advisors also distributed several thousand publications to help survivors build disaster-resistant homes and design defensible spaces to help protect their property from future wildfires.

FEMA also anticipated the need for temporary housing for scores of survivors, and began bringing mobile housing units to Texas while fires still burned. Six months later, the temporary housing mission has been completed with the placement of 90 mobile homes and park models in Bastrop and five other counties. What’s more, survivors already are beginning to return units to FEMA — and move into more permanent housing.

Throughout these six months, FEMA has maintained strong partnerships with local voluntary and service agencies, with faith- and community-based groups, and with the statewide umbrella group Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). First on the scene while fires burned throughout Texas, the local groups continue to be integral members of the disaster recovery team.

Now, as government assistance dollars begin to reach the last eligible homeowners and renters, FEMA and state voluntary agency liaisons are working closely with wildfire-affected communities and VOAD to develop long-term recovery teams. These teams, serving communities in Bastrop, Cass, Marion, Travis, Waller, Montgomery and Walker counties, aim to address survivor needs that extend beyond the scope of government assistance.

The 2-1-1 Texas Information & Referral Network is the main point of contact for survivors in any designated county who need assistance with unmet needs. The network can also help connect Texans with organizations seeking volunteers or donations for wildfire recovery efforts.

Another of FEMA’s missions in Texas is to help restore the quality of life in fire-ravaged communities and stimulate local economies.

By providing cost-shared grants to the state and its agencies, and to local governments and certain private nonprofit groups, FEMA’s Public Assistance branch is helping to get local economies back on track. The PA program reimburses eligible applicants for 75 percent of the costs they incurred in taking measures before, during and after the blazes to protect lives and property, for cleaning up communities, and for repairing infrastructure damaged or destroyed in the blazes.

Because PA is a reimbursement program, under which applicants submit documentation of their actual costs, PA funds are just starting to flow in Texas, and the $7.1 million approved thus far is only the beginning. FEMA estimates total federal reimbursements to eligible applicants in the 61 counties will top $74 million.

"Helping communities recover from these catastrophic fires is one of FEMA's primary missions in Texas," said FCO Hannes. "Although these reimbursements go to government entities and nonprofits, they speed the pace of recovery for all survivors.”

Also on the PA side, FEMA debris experts are working closely with local officials and the electric cooperative in Bastrop County — where 1,386 homes were destroyed and more than 38,000 acres burned — on projects to remove massive quantities of rubble and hazardous trees from public rights of way and private property. To date, more than 270,000 cubic yards of debris have been removed from rights of way and nearly 23,000 hazardous trees have been cut.

Finally, FEMA is doing its part to help another Texas community recover from the wildfires, the endangered Houston toad.

Thanks to an early, coordinated effort among FEMA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bastrop County officials and other key stakeholders, a plan was in place when Houston toad experts confirmed on Feb. 2 that the species had survived the Labor Day wildfires in the Bastrop burn zone, one of the toads’ few remaining habitats.

Essential to the plan was the agreement to place highly qualified biologists alongside work crews in Bastrop County to monitor for the toads and safely relocate any toads that are found. The monitors were on board and in the field by the time the toads emerged from hibernation — and they will remain on the job as long as recovery continues and the toads remain active.

“This was a common-sense approach for pushing ahead with survivor recovery while being mindful of our obligation under the Endangered Species Act to protect the toad and its critical habitat,” said Hannes. “The wildfires caused enormous destruction in Bastrop County, and we want to help ensure that both the community and its rare toads make a full recovery.”

Although FEMA’s registration period for assistance has ended, survivors can still get questions answered or check on the status of an application at 1-800-621-3362 or TTY 1-800-462-7585.  Those who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services can call 1-800-621-3362. Updates are also available at www.DisasterAssistance.gov.