How neighbors, nonprofits, and the county are carrying Sandy Creek’s recovery forward
Sandy Creek is a rural, low- to moderate-income community in Travis County, Texas, where many residents are connected to the rest of the state by a single bridge. When central Texas was struck by severe flooding in July 2025, the floodwaters shifted and compromised the bridge, rendering it unsafe for residents commuting for work and other essential needs. One year later, Commissioner Ann Howard is sharing how her community is rebuilding around what residents need most, not just what federal programs cover.
Rebuilding alongside government
It’s a pattern the American Flood Coalition (AFC) has seen in other disasters: response systems are often built for the immediate aftermath, not the years of rebuilding that follow. To avoid losing sight of long-term recovery, the county worked with local nonprofits and flood-affected families to create the Travis County Recovery Alliance (TCRA). This grassroots-led nonprofit extends recovery support well past the initial emergency response. TCRA was designed to be responsive and flexible: raising funds directly for families, handling case management, and helping residents navigate rebuilding and permitting. TCRA named an independent executive director in early 2026 and then hired a dedicated construction manager to walk residents through the rebuilding process. Today, it coordinates case management and financial assistance for many Sandy Creek families.
Rebuild Sandy Creek is another grassroots nonprofit founded after the flood to provide support beyond emergency response. Founded by local neighbors to assist residents in rebuilding their homes, the organization focuses on community members without flood insurance and covers up to 100% of rebuild costs. The group selected its initial recipient family in 2025 and broke ground on its first home construction in 2026. County representatives regularly attend meetings to maintain open lines of communication and strengthen ongoing collaboration.
FEMA reimbursement model puts communities on the back foot
Sandy Creek is now also facing a broken FEMA reimbursement model, something many AFC members have experienced. After a disaster, local communities must pay up front for urgent recovery and long-term repairs, then wait, sometimes years, for FEMA reimbursement. In reality, very few towns have the budgets to cover major cleanup or critical infrastructure repairs to roads, bridges, and water facilities. This reimbursement model creates immense financial strain, driving some to seek high-interest loans to cover their most urgent needs. AFC’s advocacy arm, American Flood Coalition Action (AFCA), is working with FEMA and Congress to flip the model so that communities receive funding up front.
To date, Travis County has spent $27 million on the July 2025 floods, much of it on the bridges that connect Sandy Creek to work, school, and everything else outside the community. The main bridge was repaired quickly to the previous minimum standard so residents could get in and out. That emergency work is expected to be reimbursable, even if it takes a while, because it addressed the immediate crisis. However, the next phase is not. The county wants to re-engineer the bridge crossing to a standard built on updated NOAA Atlas 14/15 rainfall data, which reflects how much rain actually falls in Central Texas today, rather than rebuilding to the older standard the original design was based on. Since that work isn’t considered an emergency response, the county doesn’t expect FEMA to reimburse it.
To cover what reimbursement will not, the county raised its property tax rate from 3.5% to a capped 8%, a one-time increase allowed after a disaster. The county hopes to allocate the funding toward both flood-damage recovery in Sandy Creek and broader resilience work in known flood-prone areas across the county, such as Onion Creek. It has also authorized $14 million in expenditures to withstand future flooding, including low-water crossings, heavy equipment, and bridge components.
Learning across disasters
After the July 2025 floods, AFC supported a delegation from Western North Carolina communities affected by Hurricane Helene in traveling to Texas to meet with local officials and share lessons learned. Both regions have rural communities with significant flood-resilience needs, and leaders in each found that one of the most valuable resources for long-term recovery is a peer who has already been through it.
Lessons for peer communities
- Build trust before the disaster. Relationships built beforehand open more doors faster when time is short.
- Invest in peer learning. Connecting with communities that have navigated similar recoveries accelerates decision-making and avoids repeated trial and error.
- Rebuild for today’s rainfall. Building back to the standard that already failed invites the same damage twice, so communities should plan and budget early for the higher standard, even when reimbursement will not cover it.
AFC supports communities navigating long-term flood recovery through peer connections, funding navigation, and convenings that bring local leaders together across disasters.
“Sandy Creek has made great progress in recovery, and it belongs to the residents who showed up and the county staff who remained dedicated throughout it all,” said Commissioner Howard. “There’s still more to do, but we’re doing it together.”
