LA GRANGE — Fayette County residents living along Country Club Drive and River Road got a belated Christmas gift this week. Demolition on two of the homes impacted by Hurricane Harvey has started, with three more pieces of property scheduled for closings next week.
The homes are all part of the buyout program administered by the General Land Office (GLO). In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey the County was awarded grant funded to purchase the impacted properties and have them demolished.
“This has been a very long time coming. Harvey hit in August of 2017 and in January of 2023 we are finally seeing houses come down,” said Fayette County Judge Dan Mueller.
“I don’t believe at the time the county agreed to participate in the buyout program that anyone expected it to take so long to come to fruition.”
Hurricane Harvey blasted the Texas coast, dumping rain for four days after making landfall Aug. 25, 2017. Some areas received more than 40 inches of rain as the system slowly meandered over eastern Texas and adjacent waters, causing unprecedented flooding. A wall of water made its way down the Colorado River and tore through La Grange, cresting at 54.2 feet. Fayette County was declared “the most impacted” county in the area.
Judge Mueller and Commissioner Berckenhoff toured the demolition on Jan. 6.
“Once we close on the next three pieces of properties, we will work with our demolition contractors to get those houses down. We know there has been a lot of miscommunication with this entire process and we are truly appreciative of the patience of all involved” Mueller said.
