Houston’s Recovery Cost From Harvey Expected To Be In The Billions

HOUSTON, TX — The cost recovering from the most devastating natural disaster to impact the Houston area in many years is coming at a steep cost, and will likely take years.

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, residents in the Houston area have begun to slowly return to homes that in some cases still have standing water, and in others are drying out as remnants of walls, furniture and personal lives are tossed and discarded onto curbsides, awaiting inspection from insurance adjusters to declare these things a loss.

It’s a daunting task that hundreds, if not thousands of Houstonians are undertaking, and while those affected by the flooding are working to rebuild their lives, city leaders are still assessing damages that are likely to climb well into the billions in the weeks and months ahead. (Want to get daily news updates and news of other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

Among some of the significant material losses in Houston during Hurricane Harvey were city vehicles, including 15 firefighting apparatus, 134 Houston Police Department vehicles, and 140 Department of Public Works vehicles, KTRK reported.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the vehicles will likely be replaced through reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Meanwhile, officials began the arduous task of pumping more than 16 feet of water from Beltway 8 at Boheme near Memorial Drive, only to discover a sinkhole had formed on the frontage roads along the Beltway, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Officials with the Harris County Toll Road Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation will need to inspect the entire area, and the sinkhole repaired before the roadway is opened to traffic.

Image: Waldo Jaquith via Flickr Commons

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