BRAZOS VALLEY, TX — On Feb 26, Governor Greg Abbott announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also known as FEMA, has approved 18 additional Texas counties to President Biden's Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance. The day prior, the state had submitted a request to add on 54 counties.
"Thank you to our federal partners at FEMA for granting approval for these 18 counties," said Governor Abbott. "I look forward to working with them to ensure the remaining counties in this request are approved, as well as other counties throughout our state who are in need of assistance."
Originally, the Texas Governor had quested Individual Assistance for all 254 counties in the State on Feb 18. Two days later, the White House accepted 77 of those counties for Individual Assistance. However, all 254 counties were approved for Public Assistance (Emergency Protective Measures Only).
Earlier on Feb 22, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) re-requested, and FEMA approved an additional 31 counties for the President's Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance.
As additional counties will be re-requested by the state, Texans who have suffered damage from the winter storm are urged to fill out the TDEM's State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) to help identify damages across Texas and help emergency management officials gain an understanding of all winter storm-related damages that occurred.
TDEM will continue to present that information to FEMA until all Texas counties that qualify for federal assistance receive the assistance they need.
All qualifying Texans and business owners can begin applying for assistance by registering online via www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-462-7585 or 1-800-621-3362.
At the time of this publication, all counties considered to be part of 'Brazos Valley' qualify for said assistance, including Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Madison, Walker, Waller, Robertson, Leon, Milam, and Washington Counties.