Dear Friend,
On Monday, July 16, I'm hosting a tele-town hall! To join the call, click the photo below or sign up here: bit.ly/TX14TTHsignup
Plenty of things are happening: It's been almost a year since we were inundated by Hurricane Harvey; tax reform is working; the economy is booming; our military and veterans are supported; and the American dream is alive and well.
Looking forward to taking your questions!
Enjoy this beautiful summer weekend!
Sincerely,
Randy K. Weber
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| Hurricane Harvey & NFIP |
Hurricane recovery, especially after a hurricane like Harvey, encompasses more than repairing and rebuilding physical structures. For a lot of us, the sound of a helicopter will always call to mind the countless rescues made.
"Texans Recovering Together" provides free, confidential crisis counseling and referral services to help survivors work through their disaster recovery. The program is run by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and funded through grants from FEMA. Services provided include stress management techniques, coping mechanisms and connections to disaster-relief resources.
Crisis counseling providers visit homes and community settings for "Texans Recovering Together", rather than conducting sessions in an office. Counselors are available in 31 counties affected by Harvey, and survivors can dial 2-1-1 to be referred to a local provider.
The crisis counseling program enhances mental health resilience among survivors who are displaced, jobless, homeless, impoverished or faced with stress and other common responses to disaster trauma. Experts say the stress of adjusting to new circumstances and beginning to rebuild after a disaster may not set in for up to a year.
Additional disaster behavioral health resources can be found at www.hhs.texas.gov/disaster-assistance.
National Flood Insurance Program
The National Flood Insurance Program expires on July 31. In November of last year, your House passed the 21st Century Flood Reform Act. This is a clean bill that addresses the problems of NFIP. The National Flood Insurance Program is clearly in need of review. We cannot simply renew the existing program and stick to NFIP’s status quo. The status quo got them buried $36 billion deep in borrowed taxpayer funds. We need real action on the bill and for the program. Several small, substantial changes, included in the House bill, will allow us to fix this broken system.
Since last November, we've been waiting on the Senate to take up our bill. In the meantime, they tucked an extension of NFIP into their version of the Farm Bill. With two versions of Farm Bill, the House and Senate will go to Conference to resolve differences. We're hoping to vote to go to Conference next week, but for now we’re quickly approaching the NFIP deadline.
For anyone with a current flood insurance plan, your plan will remain in effect even if NFIP lapses. After July 31 though, residents will be unable to purchase a new plan. Flood insurance may only be purchased through an insurance agent. If your insurance agent does not sell flood insurance, call the National Flood Insurance Program's Help Center at 1-800-427-4661. Request an agent referral. If you would like to purchase flood insurance, please consider doing so sooner rather than later. For more information on National Flood Insurance plans and FEMA, visit: www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program.
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