Houston City Council clears way for another 40 flood-prone homes to elevate

A home located in the Meyerland area near the intersection of Runnymeade and Yarwell streets is in the process of being lifted, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, in Houston. A home located in the Meyerland area near the intersection of Runnymeade and Yarwell streets is in the process of being lifted, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, in Houston. Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Houston City Council clears way for another 40 flood-prone homes to elevate 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Another 40 flood-prone homes in Houston will be elevated with the help of federal dollars, after City Council agreed to receive $12.4 million in grant funds Wednesday.

The homes in Meyerland, Westbury, Spring Branch and other neighborhoods will be raised with, on average, $309,100 drawn from FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, with the homeowners each chipping in an average of $13,370 per property. All but $22,052 of the city’s costs will be covered by the federal grant.

“Initially the Texas Water Development Board said that we could only do 10 at a time, but since Harvey they’ve waived that requirement. So to the extent -- based on the contractors -- we can do as many of those 40 as we possibly can, then we’ve been given the green light to proceed,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

Read more: More Houstonians may be forced to raise their Harvey-damaged homes

Houston does not determine eligibility or set maximum elevation costs for the FEMA program. The city’s role is to seek out interested homeowners -- who must have valid flood insurance policies to qualify -- and submit applications for the funds annually, competing with other flood-prone cities and counties.

City Council approved elevation contracts for individual homes last month as part of FEMA’s 2015 round of funding. The vote Wednesday was the first step in spending funds received as part of the 2016 round of grants; the city’s 2017 application is pending with FEMA. Similar funding tied directly to Hurricane Harvey is expected to help significantly more homeowners elevate in the coming months.

The mayor and some city council members have questioned the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the federal elevation program, including last month, when they approved a series of contracts that were part of $14.8 million in 2015 grant dollars that will lift 42 homes. In some cases, the elevation costs exceed the value of the homes.

Read more: Houston City Council reprises concerns about home elevations

City Councilmen Greg Travis, Michael Kubosh, Jack Christie and Dave Martin voted against several of the contracts last month, and Christie and Travis did so again Wednesday, though four of Travis’ constituents are among those who will receive grants from the 2016 funds.

“This is a federal program using federal dollars. If we don’t use the money, it goes somewhere else,” said Councilwoman Ellen Cohen, in whose district 27 of the 40 homeowners being helped with the 2016 funds live. “We need to elevate these homes and we need to do it with the funds that we have.”

Read more: Council, civic leaders call for more time on Mayor Turner's flood control rules

This 2016 round of funding includes 25 "severe repetitive loss" properties and 15 "repetitive loss" properties, a key factor in FEMA’s analysis of which properties it will help elevate. In short, the agency – which underwrites the national flood insurance program – looks to reduce the risk of future flood insurance payouts.

Severe repetitive loss homes are those where four or more separate claims of $5,000 or more have occurred, or where two or more claims add up to more than the market value of the home. Repetitive loss homes are those where the cost of repairs is equal to or greater than a quarter of the home’s market value.

“These are homes that have repeatedly flooded. You’re talking about six, seven, eight times they’ve been flooded,” Councilwoman Brenda Stardig said of the 2016 grant funds; two of her constituents will benefit. “There are infrastructure projects that in the queue that should have been moved up. We’ve got to make sure we keep those on track, as well while we’re doing these other things to recover.”

Read more: City, County could target buyouts, home elevations, drainage projects with new federal aid

In the case of the 2015 funding, some homeowners on that list applied for the program, only to watch their homes fill up with water during the Tax Day flood in 2016, and then again in Harvey.

Contracts with the 40 individual homeowners attached to the 2016 funding are expected to come back for council approval this summer, with the elevations themselves wrapping up, if all goes well, by November, near the end of the 2018 hurricane season.