wow, really?

Harris County and Houston left out of $1 billion in flood mitigation aid

Yeah, why would we need flood aid, anyway?

Photo by Allen Henson

The city of Houston and Harris County won't receive a single cent from $1 billion in federal funds that communities could apply for and use for flood mitigation projects related to Hurricane Harvey.

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) will make the formal announcement on Friday, May 21, but on May 20, it told ABC13 Investigates it has already met with Houston and Harris County to let them know they were not awarded any funds.

The GLO said that neither Harris County nor Houston's applications scored high enough on a 2019 system used to score each application and determine how funds will be allocated. GLO said the formula tried to emphasize aid to low- to moderate-income communities and areas where the funds would help the most people. Both the city and the county said they felt the rules penalized dense, urban areas.

13 Investigates confirmed with the GLO and Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia that their applications were not selected.

The county applied for $900 million and Houston asked for a similar amount. Now, neither will receive anything. The Harris County Flood Control District also applied, but was not selected.

Baytown, Pasadena, Jacinto City, and Galena Park received a cumulative amount of $90 million in flood mitigation funds.

"[Thursday] we're told that the smallest cities, some of the smallest cities in Harris County will get a federal allocation, but not Harris County proper and not the city of Houston. Go figure," Garcia said. "This is political, folks."

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner accused the GLO of turning its back on Harvey victims and said Houstonians should be outraged.

"The City of Houston and Harris county account for over 50 percent of the damages from Hurricane Harvey. It is because of the damages incurred by Houston and Harris County that HUD awarded $4.2 billion in mitigation infrastructure funding to Texas.

For the State GLO not to give one dime in the initial distribution to the City and a very small portion to Harris County shows a callous disregard to the people of Houston and Harris County. And it is unfathomable that the State GLO would redirect most of these dollars to areas that did not suffer much from Hurricane Harvey.

The residents and businesses in Kingwood, Clear Lake, West Houston, Fort Bend Meyerland, Sunnyside, the East End, Kashmere Gardens, Spring Branch, and Acres Home should be deeply concerned and outraged.

HUD should immediately halt the distribution of the $4.2 billion in flood mitigation funding pending its review."

The largest chunk of funds — $190 million — will go to communities in Galveston County. The county itself didn't receive anything.

The funds will not be used for individual home repairs, but instead be allocated for large-scale projects, such as upgrading bayou systems and building retention ponds.

Harris County said it was not contacted about the technical errors and thus were not able to correct their application.

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Continue reading on our news partner ABC13.

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dream a little dream

New Houston business crafts classes, coffee, and community in Montrose

Courtesy of Little Dreamer Creative

Kelley Eggert is puting the finishing touches on Little Dreamer Creative

The man behind a string of successful Houston coffee shops and a veteran art teacher are teaming up on a new business that’s designed to get people away from their screens and working with their hands. Called Little Dreamer Creative, the new business will celebrate its grand opening this weekend on Saturday, September 5 from 6-9 pm, and Sunday, September 6 from 10 am-2 pm (1004 Taft St.).

The two-day celebration reflects the wide range of experiences Little Dreamer Creative intends to provide. Saturday night will feature live music, food, and a vendor market, while Sunday’s events include art activities and a market of local artists. Participating vendors include Zozo Fresh, Earth.Oils, Alchemist, Little Dreamer Coffee, Chilesquiles, Tucker Family Fungi, Award Winning Farm, and Amaize Artisanal Flatbreads.

Art teacher Kelley Eggert and coffee veteran Matt Toomey founded Little Dreamer to serve a range of needs. Having recently left her role as a ceramics professor at Lone Star College, Eggert will teach art classes for both kids and adults. Toomey, who’s shed his managerial responsibilities at Little Dreamer Coffee to focus on this new venture, will use the space to launch a number of new brands, including Third Eye Yoga and Nothing But Flowers, a new beverage concept related to teas and other drinks made with flowering plants.

“I love teaching. That is my calling is to be a teacher. It's literally in my astrology,” Eggert says. “But I don't want to teach for academia. I want to teach for the beauty of using art to heal, to meditate, to break away from phones and computers and all of that.”

Unlike a maker space that has tools and other heavy equipment, Little Dreamer Creative’s classes will be more project based. People could come in for three hours on a Sunday, for example, or for six hours spread over three weeks.

“[Little Dreamer] is more about art and human expression, you know, how that is a fulfillment of the desire of humanity — to express yourself with something creative and beautiful, and if it's not beautiful, who cares? You're not really attached to the outcome of it. You're just doing it for the sake of it,” Toomey explains.

In addition, Little Dreamer Creative will sell coffee, tea, and other drinks. While it doesn’t have a kitchen, it will offer items prepared nearby at Little Dreamer Coffee, the shop Toomey founded in 2025. In addition, Toomey is working pastry chef Alyssa Dole (Coltivare, Pinkerton’s Barbecue, LuLoo’s Day & Night) to develop sweet and savory baked goods and other pastries.

At night on the weekends, Little Dreamer Creative intends to host live events such as concerts, comedy shows, and movie screenings. While it doesn’t have a liquor license, Toomey is developing mixers that will allow visitors to bring-their-own spirits to make cocktails.

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