Governor Abbott Announces Federal Disaster Declaration Approval For Summer Severe Weather And Flooding

TEXAS, September 3 - September 3, 2026 | Austin, Texas | Press Release

Governor Greg Abbott today announced that President Donald J. Trump has approved federal disaster assistance as part of a Major Disaster Declaration, following severe weather and flooding that impacted communities across the state in July.

“I thank President Trump for his approval of this Major Disaster Declaration,” said Governor Abbott. “Federal public assistance is now available in 19 Texas counties damaged by the July storms and floods. Local officials will now have needed resources to recover and rebuild. Texas will deliver every available resource to affected communities.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved its Public Assistance program, including assistance for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities, for 19 counties: Bandera, Crockett, Dimmit, Edwards, Frio, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Mason, Maverick, Menard, Real, Sutton, Uvalde, Val Verde, and Zavala County. The Governor’s request for Public Assistance for 9 additional counties remains pending.

The Governor’s request for FEMA’s Individual Assistance program for 30 affected counties remains pending. FEMA’s Individual Assistance program funding assists with expenses such as temporary housing, emergency home repairs, uninsured and underinsured personal property losses, disaster legal services, disaster unemployment assistance, and medical, dental, and funeral expenses caused by the disaster. Additionally, a request from Texas to authorize additional FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program resources statewide remains pending.

Officials continue to review disaster damage information self-reported by Texans through TDEM's Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) damage survey. Impacted Texans are encouraged to submit information about damage from to homes or businesses caused by the July storms and flooding by visiting damage.tdem.texas.gov. These details are vital to help officials identify impacted areas and connect Texans with resources.

Governor Abbott continues to take action to provide all available resources to support communities impacted by the July severe storms and flooding, including:

• Announcing the extension of SNAP replacement benefits for Texans affected by flooding
• Amending the state’s disaster declaration to include additional impacted counties and providing an update in Cotulla on the state’s emergency response in affected areas
• Providing an update in Uvalde on the state’s flood response
• Issuing a state disaster declaration, increasing the readiness level of the Texas State Emergency Operations Center (SOC) to 24-hour operations at Level II (Escalated Response) and activating additional state emergency response resources as heavy rainfall and flash flooding threats continued

Deploying state emergency response resources ahead of the severe weather and flash flooding threat