Austin (AP) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has picked the leader of the Texas A&M University System to head the state’s recovery efforts in the wake of Harvey.
Abbott announced A&M Chancellor John Sharp will oversee the response to the storm that roared into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane last month and dumped record rainfall over the Houston area.
Sharp is a former Democratic lawmaker and a longtime friend of former Gov. Rick Perry. He says one the guiding principles will be to “future-proof” the rebuilding effort in hopes of mitigating future disasters.
Harvey is so far blamed for at least 70 deaths and destroying or damaging more than 200,000 homes.
