President Declares 12 Texas Counties Major Disaster Areas

Twelve Texas counties that suffered severe flooding during heavy rainfall in late May have been declared major disaster areas by President Barack Obama, making them available for federal disaster assistance.

The Associated Press reported that the president’s June 11 declaration covers Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Fort Bend, Grimes, Hidalgo, Hood, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Travis, Waller and Washington counties.

According to the office of Gov. Greg Abbott, affected citizens in these counties may be eligible for individual assistance grants of up to $33,000 from the federal government, and low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The grants may cover temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover.

Abbott thanked Obama and said the declaration lets Texans “begin the process of rebuilding their lives after experiencing some of the worst flooding in recent history.”

In a letter to President Obama requesting aid for the 12 counties, Abbott said that including the recent devastating weather Texas has experienced six major disasters “in the last 13 months. Of the 254 counties in Texas, 151 counties have been declared in one of these disasters. Of those 151 counties, 48 of them have been declared in two or more of these disasters. The population of these counties, under five previously issued declarations, is over 19.7 million people, or 72 percent of the total population of Texas. Those 19.7 million people living in a Texas county hit by disaster is greater than the populations of 48 states.”

Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reported that much of Texas experienced 400 percent to 600 percent of long-term average rainfall amounts during the late May storm period.