Nearly four months after the deadly floods, residents in Sandy Creek are still trying to rebuild their homes but say the federal funding will not cover the cost.

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — Nearly four months after deadly floods hit Sandy Creek, neighbors are still recovering. On Monday night, they held a community meeting with Travis County leaders to ask for more help rebuilding their homes.

“We’re going into winter, people are living in RVs. It’s just not sustainable, it’s not safe,” said Jenee Lamberton, a resident of Sandy Creek for 17 years. “They’re in more danger than they’ve ever been in, and so we need to get these houses built now.”

Recently they formed a group called the Sandy Creek Alliance, hoping to get more help for their neighbors. With the maximum FEMA housing assistance funds around $43,000, they say it’s not enough to pay for all the repairs, especially for many of the residents who don’t have flood insurance. 

Knowing the federal funding wouldn’t cover all the costs, the county waived its normal permit fees to help residents rebuild. But with surveys, engineering costs and new height requirements for homes that are close to the creek, many are depleting their savings trying to pay for it. 

“It’s kicking people out of our community. The cost is just insanely high to do all of that,” said Favi O., who’s lived in Sandy Creek for 30 years. 

Travis County Commissioner Ann Howard (Precinct 3) said it’s not exactly a simple fix. 

“The county doesn’t have a program to just hand that money to anyone – no one does,” Howard said. “Some of this building will exceed that cost, and so that is a dilemma.”

County leaders said the county currently has $920,000 in the Travis County CARES fund, a short-term disaster relief program that was established this summer after the floods. With the recent Band Together Texas fundraising concert, they said more will be added to it soon. 

So far, they said about 80 families have been approved for the funding, but none of it has been distributed yet, to make sure that all the needs are evaluated as a group and distributed fairly. 

In the meantime,  Howard is encouraging residents to apply for any resources they can find. She also said she’s holding a fundraiser on Nov. 12 to get more donations added to the CARES fund.

“I think it’ll be a part of a missing piece, but it’s not endless money, and there’s a lot of people who need it,” Howard said. “It’s about cobbling the funding together.”

For many residents who’ve spent their lives in Sandy Creek, they’re just hoping to be heard by the county. 

“We still have a long way to go,” Favi O. said. “We want Travis County to keep stepping up to help us, and not just give us tiny pieces of help here and there, but we want them to help entirety and hear us out.”