Earlier today, Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, declared the 15 Texas counties worst hit by the October floods and storms to be state disaster areas.
The counties are Bastrop, Brazoria, Caldwell, Comal, Galveston, Guadalupe, Hardin, Harris, Hays, Hidalgo, Liberty, Navarro, Travis, Willacy, and Wilson.
The disaster declaration allows the Governor to “authorize the use of all available resources of state government and of political subdivisions that are reasonably necessary to cope with this disaster”.
At least 6 people died during a period of the severe weather, including tornadoes and flooding, between 22 to 31 October 2015. The deaths occurred in the Austin, San Antonio and Houston areas. Parts of Austin saw 10 inches (254 mm) of rain on Friday 30 October 2015. Some areas of Houston saw 12 inches (300 mm) of rain fall during a 24 hour period.
Texas has also requested federal assistance from FEMA for those affected by the floods and storms.
