$34 billion approved for Ike Dike, construction plan aimed to protect Texas Coast from hurricane disasters

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) — President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act, offering almost $858 billion in navy funding.

Part of that, authorizing a $34 billion proposal to construct a system that might forestall main storm surges alongside the Texas coast.

“This was a huge step in the authorization, a critical one in the process,” Brian D. Freedman, with the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, mentioned.

Freedman, president of the group champions Friday’s transfer, when Biden licensed a $34 billion proposal that would come with constructing a storm surge safety system.

“So, now the focus is on the appropriation side of the equation and making sure that there’s funding to continue to move forward,” Freedman mentioned.

He says it is an vital step within the struggle to forestall main disasters from taking place just like the one we went by means of again in 2008.

“It was roughly $30 billion in damage in a hurricane, level 3, and was the start of the Ike Dike concept,” Freedman mentioned.

According to a Texas A&M professor, the idea can be an answer to defending the Galveston-Houston space from a storm surge catastrophe.

“The Houston area is home to one of the world’s largest petrochemical complexes, a huge portion of the military’s jet aviation fuel, commercial aviation fuel, petrochemical products that go into things we use every day across the country,” Freedman defined.

Freedman says a disruption from a future hurricane like Hurricane Ike might have a large influence on the financial system and area and so safeguarding a helpful asset just like the oil trade is vital to the area’s improvement.

“This project would go a long way in making sure those industries are safe in the event of another hurricane and can continue to operate,” he mentioned.

Leaders like U.S. Senator John Cornyn, who launched the laws to approve the challenge, celebrated.

“The Coastal Spine will provide the critical infrastructure needed to protect our coastal communities and the industries that fuel our state and national economy,” Cornyn mentioned.

And due to the authorization, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will possibly now transfer ahead with planning on this main challenge that may take years to full.