Jul. 14--FEMA funds totaling $48 million are coming to the Texas Gulf Coast and Jefferson County is on the list to receive $3.5 million of the hurricane recovery money.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security funding, allocated through the Federal Emergency Management Agency is designated for Hurricane Ike recovery projects.

Locally, the Pleasure Island Commission was awarded $1.4 million for dock repairs.

Pleasure Island Commission Director Jimmy Dike said he had not seen the announcement but thought the money to be the first installment of some $8 million in FEMA funds heading to the island for repairs mainly to the marina.

"They've broken the marina down into six different worksheet projects. This is one of them," Dike said.

In addition to the Pleasure Island funding, Jefferson County will receive $1 million for disaster management. The city of Beaumont will receive $1.1 million.

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX, on Monday announced the allocation.

"Many of our cities and town along Texas' Gulf Coast are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Ike nearly a year after it made landfall," she said in a statement issued by her office Monday.

Hutchison announced in July the Fiscal Year 2009 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill which passed the U.S. Senate included a provision she secured allowing the Texas counties impacted by Hurricane Ike to access million in additional Debris Removal and Public Assistance reimbursements from FEMA.

Prior to inclusion of this provision, 100 percent debris removal reimbursement ended on April 26 and Public Assistance funding was reimbursed only at a 75 percent/25 percent rate. The new provision does away with the April 26 deadline for 10 percent debris removal and increases the federal costshare for Public Assistance funding from FEMA to 90 percent.

Other recipients include: the cities of Galveston, Friendswood, Galveston County, Harris County Flood Control District, Pasadena Independent School District, Barbers Hill Independent School District, and Pasadena Independent School District.

skoonce@panews.com

-----

To see more of The Port Arthur News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.panews.com/.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Port Arthur News, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.