Washington, D.C. –  March 11, 2020, U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), joined by Sens. Cruz and Cornyn and the entire Texas Congressional Delegation, spearheaded a joint letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), expressing concern for Texas communities that suffered public infrastructure damage during Tropical Storm Imelda by sending a letter. The letter highlights the troublesome discrepancy between FEMA and local jurisdictions’ preliminary damage assessments. As stated in the letter, “FEMA certified these costs at approximately $18 million, far short of the $125 million in costs identified by local jurisdictions.”

Rep. Weber noted that, “In parts of my district, the impact was even greater than the hard hit we took from Hurricane Harvey.  As a result of the lag in funding, coupled with the extreme financial hit from Harvey, many of our small communities are literally struggling to recover and desperately need the assistance that a Public Assistance declaration would provide.  Last month, FEMA denied the state’s request to add the Public Assistance (PA) program to the Major Disaster Declaration for Tropical Storm Imelda, for the following counties:  Chambers, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Newton and Orange.  Today’s letter dovetails with the state’s appeal of this denial.

Rep. Weber added that, “FEMA is establishing a very dangerous precedent, if allowed to rely on unverified data while refusing to provide that information in their denial of PA declarations.  There is no question that, after Harvey and the delay in reimbursements, these communities have legitimate need.  There is also no question—as evidenced by the state’s findings of $125 million in damages—that the damages were significant enough to qualify for relief.  If a federal agency can short-change us without providing their justification, we will experience significant problems when—not if—we are hit again.”