Contact:

Robert Elder | TRLA Communications Director
512-374-2764, relder@trla.org 

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Available to Assist With Disaster Preparedness and Recovery

Hurricane season is underway, and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) is available to help people prepare for or recover from a disaster. 

Natural disasters have inflicted a staggering human and financial toll on Texas, with its long coastline exposed to the Gulf of Mexico. Over the past five years the state has sustained annual average of $14.1 billion in damages and 321 people died in weather-related disasters. Both totals are the highest among states. 

In the Rio Grande Valley, approximately 30% of residents live below the poverty level, double the rate for Texas as a whole, and only 8% of its residents have National Flood Insurance Program coverage. 

If you need assistance, call TRLA’s hotline at (956) 996-8752, which is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time, Monday through Friday. TRLA is available to help people with legal needs that may head off greater problems after a disaster, such as clearing title to their homes now or understanding what insurance options may be available. 

TRLA is also available to help with long-term recovery issues such as: 

• Assistance securing government benefits as they are made available to disaster survivors;

• Assistance with life, medical, and property insurance claims; 

• Help with home repair contracts and contractors; 

• Replacement of wills and other important legal documents lost or destroyed in the disaster;

• Consumer protection issues such as price-gouging and avoiding contractor scams in the rebuilding process; 

• Counseling on mortgage-foreclosure problems; and 

• Counseling on landlord-tenant problems 

The Rio Grande Valley has experienced five disasters since 2015, including two in June within the last two years. 

TRLA has developed a map to help people living in the Rio Grande Valley identify their irrigation or drainage district to better understand the entities responsible for drainage and irrigation infrastructure in their communities. Drainage and irrigation districts can levy taxes and those who head the districts are either elected or appointed by elected officials. 

The map and other disaster assistance resources are at https://www.trla.org/disaster-resources. 

Drainage and irrigation infrastructure have been pressing issues for decades, particularly for residents of colonias in unincorporated areas in the Rio Grande Valley. As heavy rains and storms are expected to occur again this summer, residents can use this map to understand which entities are responsible for overseeing flood control operations in their neighborhoods. 

Texans should also be aware of fraud and common scams after disasters. Common post-disaster fraud practices include phony housing inspectors, fraudulent building contractors, bogus pleas for disaster donations, and fake offers of state or federal aid. 

Texans are urged to ask questions, and to require identification when someone claims to represent a government agency. 

Survivors should also keep in mind that state and federal workers never ask for or accept money, and always carry identification badges with a photograph. There is no fee required to apply for or to receive disaster assistance from FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), or the state. 

Unless you call an agency yourself, you should not provide personal information over the phone. Otherwise you do you put yourself at risk for identity theft. If you suspect fraud, call the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 (toll free). 

The Texas Department of Insurance has other disaster resources and fraud complaint information. 

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid provides free legal services to people who cannot afford an attorney in 68 southwestern counties including the entire Texas-Mexico border. TRLA attorneys specialize in more than 45 areas of the law, including disaster assistance, family, employment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, landlord-tenant, housing, education, immigration, farmworker, and civil rights. Our hotline is open from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (CST) Monday – Friday: (956) 996-8752.