Local, state and federal officials expressed concern for low-income Harvey victims, but they were unable to explain why so many of them continue to struggle. City officials say there has been no shortage of resources and services for poor residents affected by the storm, including the 14 neighborhood restoration centers the city opened, mostly in low-income areas. FEMA said it has put $4.3 billion into the hands of affected Houstonians.
“There are thousands of families who live in low-income communities, who already were operating at the margins before Harvey, and the storm pushed them down even further,” the mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, said in an interview. “We want to reassure them that they have not been forgotten.”
Mr. Turner, who visited Kashmere Gardens and other neighborhoods to mark the anniversary of Harvey, described the problem as a federal and state issue, citing the $5 billion in federal Community Development Block Grant disaster-recovery funds that were approved for Texas, but that Houston has yet to receive.
“We know that the city is going to receive $1.14 billion dollars in C.D.B.G. funding for housing,” Mr. Turner said. “But you can’t disperse what you don’t have.”
Kurt H. Pickering, a spokesman for FEMA in Texas, said the agency had seen no evidence that low-income areas were receiving less support from the agency. He said that federal assistance was designed not to make a person whole after a disaster, but to help start the recovery process. “FEMA does everything possible to assist every family in every way,” within the bounds of its regulations, Mr. Pickering said.
In Kashmere Gardens, Ms. Houston ended the tour of her house on Lufkin Street after a few minutes.
“I can’t stay in here too long because I start coughing,” she said.
She spoke of the past 12 months as a series of disputes and broken promises. She said she felt abandoned by FEMA, contractors, reporters and celebrities who visited the neighborhood and failed to follow up on repairs. “We’re no more than 15 minutes from River Oaks,” she said, referring to one of the wealthiest areas of Houston. “It’s not just the government. Don’t nobody care.”
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