Flooding prompts disaster declaration Heavy rains through Texas last week caused flooding, particularly in the Dallas area, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott to issue a disaster declaration for 23 affected counties. Texans who were affected by the rain, which dumped more than 10 inches in Dallas, are encouraged to file insurance claims with their providers and to complete the voluntary Self Reporting Damage Survey issued by the Texas Department of Emergency Management by visiting damage. tdem.texas.gov. The survey helps the state identify damage across Texas to gain an understanding of what areas were affected during the recent severe weather.
Counties included in the disaster declaration are Camp, Culberson, Dallas, Duval, Ellis, El Paso, Henderson, Hopkins, Hudspeth, Kaufman, Kerr, Live Oak, Marion, Montague, Navarro, Pecos, Rains, Smith, Tarrant, Upshur, Van Zandt, Webb and Wood. Additional coun- could be added as damage is assessed.
Burn bans lifted; fire danger drops The heavy rains across a chunk of the state have reduced the wildfire risk, with the Texas A&M Forest Service for the first time in months not responding to any active wildfires. The number of counties with burn bans has dropped to 166. At its high point, 224 counties in the state were under burn bans. The number of counties under extreme or exceptional drought has dropped as well. The percentage of Texas in the “exceptional drought” category dropped by more than half to 12.4%, according to kut.org.
