Gov. Greg Abbott traveled to Dallas on Tuesday and issued a disaster declaration in order to allocate more resources to help people who were affected by the recent flooding in North Texas.
“In accordance with the authority vested in me,” the governor ordered, “I authorize the use of all available resources of the state government and of political subdivisions that are reasonably necessary to cope with this disaster.”
At a press conference with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, Abbott stated, “No challenge is too great for Texans to address, and I commend Mayor Johnson, the City of Dallas, and emergency personnel for their prolific life-saving response to yesterday’s unprecedented flooding event in North Texas.”
“The State of Texas will be ready and available to help all impacted communities every step of the way as they begin to navigate the recovery process in the aftermath of this storm,” Abbott continued.
Mayor Johnson thanked the governor “for visiting Dallas today after we were hit by historic rain and flash flooding. Our city was tested, but we continue to show our strength and resilience.”
The entire Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex received a near record-breaking deluge, with East Dallas receiving 15.16 inches of rain over a 24-hour period. In total, an average of 10.08 inches poured down across the region.
More than 100 homes were reportedly damaged by the rainfall and one woman was killed after the flooding swept her car away.
Additionally, 28 of the Dallas Police Department’s squad cars sustained significant damage or were destroyed by the rain.
News Nation correspondent Markie Martin noted that the “DFW flooding was also a nightmare for first responders … This will force them to double-up and ride together while they wait for new cars.”
In addition to Dallas County, Abbott extended the order to 22 other counties across the state that also experienced significant flooding, including Camp, Culberson, Duval, Ellis, El Paso, Henderson, Hopkins, Hudspeth, Kaufman, Kerr, Live Oak, Marion, Montague, Navarro, Pecos, Rains, Smith, Tarrant, Upshur, Van Zandt, Webb, and Wood.