A little accountability journalism goes a long way

Six months after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Texas has launched a public tracking tool for spending on recovery efforts, which Governor Greg Abbott calls "a good start in achieving transparency." The tracker gives a look at how counties are spending the over $13 billion in flood insurance payouts, hotel vouchers, and other federal aid that has been disbursed, using data from FEMA and the Texas General Land Office. The tracker, launched on Monday, came two months after the Associated Press highlighted the lack of transparency in how the state was spending money in Harvey recovery efforts, which experts said could undermine the rebuilding process and possibility of mitigating risks from future storms.