FEMA Preparing to Spend Years Rebuilding Texas After Hurricane Harvey

FEMA administrator Brock Long reports that Agency is going to spend several years restoring Texas after Hurricane Harvey.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is expecting to spend the next couple years helping restore areas of Texas devastated by heavy flooding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, according to the agency's administrator Brock Long.

"FEMA is going to be there for years. This disaster is going to be a landmark event… We're setting up and gearing up for the next couple years," Long told CNN on Sunday.

Long added that FEMA was responding to the most immediate consequences of the flooding, but it was also setting up teams that would focus on recovery housing and flood insurance programs.

Harvey came ashore on Friday as Category 4 hurricane and has been downgraded to a tropical storm since but remains highly dangerous, dumping record-breaking amounts of rain in the region.

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© AP Photo / Charlie Riedel

A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, near downtown Houston. The remnants of Hurricane Harvey sent devastating floods pouring into Houston Sunday as rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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© AP Photo / Eric Gay

Boats that sunk in the wake of Hurricane Harvey are surrounded by floating debris Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, in Rockport, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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© AP Photo / Eric Gay

A truck drives moves through flood waters left behind by Hurricane Harvey, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Aransas Pass, Texas. Harvey rolled over the Texas Gulf Coast on Saturday, smashing homes and businesses and lashing the shore with wind and rain so intense that drivers were forced off the road because they could not see in front of them. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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© AP Photo / Eric Gay

A row of clothes dryers are exposed to the elements after a laundromat lost its roof and portions of walls in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Rockport, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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© AP Photo / Eric Gay

City workers pull down a canvas covering as the outer bands of Hurricane Harvey move closer, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, in Corpus Christi, Texas

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© AP Photo / Charlie Riedel

A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, near downtown Houston. The remnants of Hurricane Harvey sent devastating floods pouring into Houston Sunday as rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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© AP Photo / Eric Gay

Boats that sunk in the wake of Hurricane Harvey are surrounded by floating debris Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, in Rockport, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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© AP Photo / Eric Gay

A truck drives moves through flood waters left behind by Hurricane Harvey, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Aransas Pass, Texas. Harvey rolled over the Texas Gulf Coast on Saturday, smashing homes and businesses and lashing the shore with wind and rain so intense that drivers were forced off the road because they could not see in front of them. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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© AP Photo / Eric Gay

A row of clothes dryers are exposed to the elements after a laundromat lost its roof and portions of walls in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Rockport, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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© AP Photo / Eric Gay

City workers pull down a canvas covering as the outer bands of Hurricane Harvey move closer, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, in Corpus Christi, Texas

People in the affected areas are being told to avoid driving on flooded roads. The National Weather Service in Houston has also urged people to get to their roofs if staying at the highest floor of the house becomes too dangerous.