While the government struggles to confront the mounting catastrophe on the Gulf Coast, a legal settlement in Texas is set to put hundreds of millions in long overdue relief funds into the hands of disaster victims. Since the 2008 hurricane season, some of the most vulnerable communities, who suffered displacement and other damage, have been short-changed by the Texas government’s recovery plan. The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and Texas-based partner groups announced on Monday that the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved an agreement with the state that would "assure that federal disaster recovery funds expended in Texas will protect and benefit people with low incomes, African Americans and Latinos as well as elder and disabled populations."