SCHERTZ, TX - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced HUD will make available up to $10 million, based on preliminary estimates, to repair and rebuild public housing damaged by severe flooding in Texas.

Cuomo said the HUD aid will go to Texas public housing authorities in counties that were declared disaster areas by President Clinton. The Secretary made the announcement during a tour of flood damage in Schertz with Mayor Hal Baldwin, City Manager Kerry Sweatt and other officials.

The public housing authority in Schertz, which did not have flood insurance, will get more than $500,000 of the HUD funds for damaged public housing, Cuomo said.

Cuomo visited two public housing developments for elderly and disabled residents in Schertz - Clyde Ford Village and Roy Richard Court - where residents were forced out of their homes by flooding. Most residents of the two developments are widows, with an average age of 79.

One public housing resident in Schertz - Charles "Randy" Salling, 62 - died last week from stress related to the flooding. He was the resident representative on the Housing Authority Board.

"No words I can say, no checks I can write, can bring back Randy Salling or erase the tragic devastation caused by the terrible flooding in Schertz and other parts of Texas," Cuomo said. "What I can do is pledge to you that the Clinton Administration is committed to speed recovery efforts in Texas and create stronger and better communities. This Administration and all Americans stand with the people of Texas in our determination to rebuild as completely and quickly as humanly possible."

Cuomo said other HUD assistance to Texas will include:

• A 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of homes hit by the disaster that are insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which is part of HUD. As a result, flooding victims will not lose their homes if they can't make their mortgage payments for three months. HUD will also work with lenders to restructure mortgages to help disaster victims keep their homes.

• Allowing disaster victims to receive special mortgage insurance that enables them to finance the entire purchase price of a home, with no downpayment.

The HUD assistance is just one part of the disaster recovery response by the Clinton Administration. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration and other agencies are providing millions more dollars in recovery funds for flood victims.