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Flood waters from Tropical Storm Imelda surround Fannett homes near Texas 124 on Friday. Photo taken Friday, 9/20/19
Flood waters from Tropical Storm Imelda surround Fannett homes near Texas 124 on Friday. Photo taken Friday, 9/20/19
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor
Flood waters from Tropical Storm Imelda surround Fannett homes near Texas 124 on Friday. Photo taken Friday, 9/20/19
Flood waters from Tropical Storm Imelda surround Fannett homes near Texas 124 on Friday. Photo taken Friday, 9/20/19
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo EditorJefferson County could be in danger of losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in hurricane recovery grant funds.
The Southeast Texas Emergency Relief Fund, which currently handles long-term disaster recovery for the county, recently gave notice that it no longer wished to carry out disaster recovery.
The group stepped into the role in the aftermath of the devastation brought to Southeast Texas by Tropical Storm Harvey. At the time, there was not a nonprofit organization in the county equipped to accept recovery grant funds that were required to go to a nonprofit instead of a government organization.
Grants cover smaller expenses than what goes to the county, such as home repair and furniture costs associated with disaster recovery.
The regional relief fund stepped up, but such a role is not the group’s original mission. Three years after Harvey’s wrath, the group has determined it doesn’t have the bandwidth to continue the duties, board member Carl Griffith Jr. said.
Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said the work must get done.
“If we sit back and wait for five, 10 members of the community sprout up and create an organization … we don’t have time,” he said. “We do need to act.”
If created, Jefferson County would join with Orange and Hardin counties, which both created nonprofit organizations to handle long-term hurricane recovery in their areas.
While the two organizations have continued without legal issues for over a year, it seems state law hasn’t caught up with the need for such recovery groups.
County Civil Division Attorney Kathleen Kennedy said, in her research into the ability for the commissioners court to create a nonprofit, she found the ability to create a transportation or other similar nonprofit that benefits the public good. However, there was no specific provision related to disaster recovery.
In part as a result, Commissioner Brent Weaver asked for more information about how the other counties carried out the process to ensure Jefferson County is on firm footing moving forward.
Weaver, Branick and the rest of the court are in agreement that not moving forward isn’t an option.
“There’s no doubt that we need an organization in place to assist our citizens,” Branick said.
The court still has to work out some of the specifics related to how the organization will operate separately from the county. However, the commissioners seem agreed that the county will make a donation to fund operations, donate office space to the organization and each appoint at least the first board member.
If they don’t take these actions, Griffith said, the Southeast Texas Emergency Relief Fund after the first of the year won’t be willing to help bridge the gap between the two organizations as they transition.
kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com
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September 28, 2020 at 12:00PM
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Jefferson Co. looks to streamline long-term disaster recovery - Beaumont Enterprise
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