by Chris Estes, National Housing Conference
Hurricane Harvey’s devastation has
rightfully been the dominant national news story for more than a week. While other stories will eventually crowd out
the recovery, Harvey will be the focus of the housing community and south Texas for the next
several years.
I believe the major focus
for HUD leadership and related agencies will be the housing and planning issues
in Houston and surrounding communities. This will bring both challenges and
opportunities. As we have seen in
the past, funding for emergency relief and recovery can get attention and
support from Congress, though not always easily, but this new spending will
create even greater pressure to balance the budget through cuts to non-defense
discretionary funding.
The recovery in south Texas
and Louisiana will be years in the making and will bring many issues into the
mix. With flood insurance covering only an estimated 25 percent of flooded
homes, asking people to rebuild with loans alone will be politically difficult.
Toxic water, mold and mildew have rendered most all of the
houses touched by water in need of a complete, and costly, rebuild.
How, whether and where to rebuild will be
complicated issues to manage. The Houston area has done little to regulate
building codes or manage its flood plain. The National Flood Insurance Program must be renewed by the end of
September. Harvey’s aftermath will necessarily inform the debate on the federal role in flood: paying to rebuild again and again after floods compared
to funding mitigation and improved storm management systems and creating
incentives to rebuild outside of flood plains. As I have mentioned many times,
NHC has taken an active role in the SmarterSafer Coalition, and we will continue to advocate for the needs of affordable housing residents and the preservation of affordable housing in the rebuilding process.
While much attention will
be on the challenge homeowners
face in rebuilding, renters face significant challenges as well. It is
unclear at this point how much public
housing and rental housing subsidized by the Housing Credit and project-based Section 8 was damaged, how many voucher holders were
displaced, or how many unassisted renters were displaced. Ample rental stock
and relatively low vacancy rates, plus FEMA vouchers, will help
in the short run, but it is unclear where people will live in the long run and
if there will be enough vouchers to meet what is sure to be increased need.
Coordinated support and case management
will be essential for the many families who experienced total loss to return to economic stability.
The housing community's
challenge will be to work together to protect important affordable housing
programs in the budget and regulatory environments, by framing housing programs
in a disaster relief context and sharing lessons learned from Hurricanes Rita
and Katrina and Superstorm Sandy.
NHC and
our Leadership Circle members will meet with HUD Sec. Ben Carson this week to
discuss how we can be helpful. I also hope we can bring the full affordable housing and
community development continuum together in a coordinated and collaborative manner.
It will be easy for folks to jump forward at the beginning but with a recovery
that is going to take years, we need everyone at the table helping HUD, the
state of Texas, the city of Houston, and other jurisdictions see the long-term
issues as well.
There will no doubt be many
challenges related to effective rebuilding, preservation, prevention of
displacement and protection of low- and moderate-income households. With all of us working together over the long
haul, we can both improve these communities and strengthen the housing field
for the future.