GALVESTON — Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas testified before the Senate subcommittee on disaster recovery Tuesday morning, asking the federal government to pump $2.4 billion into Galveston’s Hurricane Ike recovery efforts.
Describing the island as an invaluable component in the nation’s major petrochemical producing and refinery region, Thomas told committee members the money would be well spent.
State Rep. Craig Eiland, who traveled with the mayor’s delegation to Washington, D.C., said he thought Thomas’ message was well received. It was obvious Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., was sympathetic to Galveston’s plight, Eiland said. Landrieu chairs the subcommittee.
“(She) repeatedly expressed gratitude to Texas for its help for the people of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina,” he said. “(She) knows what we’ve been through, and (she) wants to help us.”
Although Thomas submitted a written wish list for financial assistance, she did not talk about money for specific projects during her testimony, Eiland said.
Thomas did not return calls seeking comment.
Some of the items on the mayor’s wish list are directly related to storm damage. But others are projects the city has talked about for years without having the funding to make a reality.
Thomas requested the largest amount — $600 million — for the University of Texas Medical Branch, home to national security research at the Galveston National Laboratory.
Damage at the school and hospitals will far exceed the facility’s $115 million in insurance coverage, she said in her written testimony.
Thomas asked for $500 million for the Port of Galveston, which she said provides $1 billion in economic impact to Texas, creates about 13,000 jobs statewide and about 3,000 jobs locally.
Federal funds would be used to repair storm damage but also to increase the height of the Pelican Island dredge disposal site levee walls and widen and improve the bridge that leads to the small island.
Disposal site improvements could eliminate one obstacle in the city’s hoped-for acquisition of the East End flats, which now serves as a disposal site for both the ports of Galveston and Houston.
Pelican Island bridge improvements would be necessary for the port’s joint container terminal project with the Port of Houston.
Thomas also asked for $350 million to help businesses rebuild. The money could be used for direct assistance, incentives and low-interest loans. Businesses’ flood insurance likely will not cover all of the damage, she said.
Hurricane Ike has proven the city’s need to improve its major roadways and provide residents more than one way off the island during an evacuation, Thomas said.
The city needs about $300 million to elevate FM 3005 and Harborside Drive, both of which flood with heavy rainfall. But Thomas also wants money to build a flyover interchange between 61st Street and Broadway and a West Bay crossing, an expensive project that has always generated controversy.
The $200 million Thomas wants for the city’s residential areas would be used to help make repairs and demolish abandoned houses.
Because she did not allow residents back into the city for 10 days after the storm, Thomas told committee members that mold growth, in many cases not covered by insurance, will be rampant. An estimated 80 percent of Galveston households had some level of flood damage from the storm surge, she said.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to pass a disaster funding package later this week that will allocate billions for Hurricane Ike relief, said Matt Mackowiak, press secretary to U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
No one knows how much money the bill will include, but a large portion of it will be directed to the 29 communities affected by the storm in Texas, he said.
