The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

A nearly $4.2 million grant from  the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will help the Bridge City ISD replace the severely damaged Hatton Elementary School.

Because costs to repair the school would have been more than 50 percent of the replacement value, the school qualified for replacement funding from FEMA. This FEMA grant will pay 90 percent of the uninsured portion of the building’s replacement costs. FEMA recently awarded a $3.6 million grant toward replacement costs for the district’s other elementary school, Sims Elementary.

“By contributing to the rebuilding efforts of these schools FEMA is ensuring that their students have a safe and secure environment in which to learn,” said Federal Coordinating Office Brad Harris.

“As the Bridge City ISD recovers from Hurricane Ike, so does the entire community.” Once FEMA reimburses the state of Texas it is the state’s responsibility to manage the funds, which includes making disbursements to local jurisdictions and organizations that incurred costs.

The obligated funds are a portion of nearly $1.3 billion in total Public Assistance disaster funds sent to the state since September, 2008.

In all, federal assistance to Texas for the Hurricane Ike recovery effort tops $2.4 billion.

"Despite immediate efforts to get Hatton Elementary cleaned up and dried out after the storm, the damage was just too severe,” said State Coordinating Officer Ben Patterson. “We’re pleased to see the district receive this FEMA assistance.”