San Marcos Awarded Additional $24 Million In Disaster Recovery Funds

“Our staff is already planning for additional community involvement and public meetings to determine the most effective utilization of these additional disaster dollars…”

The City of San Marcos has been awarded an additional $24 million in disaster recovery funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, bringing the total awarded since the 2015 floods to $57.8 million.

“We were excited to receive news about this new funding and appreciate that our federal partners understand the struggle faced by communities to rebuild and fund projects to mitigate against future flooding events,” states City Manager Bert Lumbreras.  “Our staff is already planning for additional community involvement and public meetings to determine the most effective utilization of these additional disaster dollars.”

The latest funds are part of a nationwide award announced April 10 totaling nearly $28 billion, which will support long-term disaster recovery in hard-hit areas in nine states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

These funds are provided through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program and will address seriously damaged housing, businesses and infrastructure from major disasters that occurred since 2015.

“San Marcos is proud to receive this additional $24 million as part of today’s grant announcement which represents the largest single amount of disaster recovery assistance in HUD’s history,” said Mayor John Thomaides.

In 2017, the City rolled out a housing program with a portion of the previously allocated $33.8 million to help San Marcos families who experienced home damage in the 2015 floods to renovate, rebuild and make their homes and neighborhoods more sustainable.

The majority of the $33.8 million in grant funding has been designated for five infrastructure projects approved by the San Marcos City Council to mitigate flooding in the most susceptible neighborhoods.

These projects are now in the design phase and include: Uhland Road, Blanco Gardens, Clarewood/Barbara, Midtown and Blanco Riverine. Mitigation can broadly be described as actions taken to protect communities from the predictable damage from future events.

For more information on the CDBG-DR program in San Marcos, including projects scheduled in the community, contact Housing and Community Development Manager Stacy Brown at 512.805.2604.