Governor Abbott Requests Addition To SBA Disaster Declaration For Texas Severe Storms

Governor Greg Abbott has requested that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) include additional Texas communities in the federal disaster declaration following impacts from last month’s severe storms. If approved, the SBA declaration will make federal assistance available through disaster loans for Victoria County and its contiguous counties, in addition to the North Texas counties already included.

"Our state remains dedicated to recovery efforts for Texans impacted by recent severe storms," said Governor Abbott. "This updated request to the SBA will help provide coastal communities the resources they need to rebuild their homes and businesses."

If the Governor’s request is approved, the SBA would provide low-interest loans through disaster programs to qualifying Texans in coastal communities whose homes and businesses sustained damage during the severe weather incident, including but not limited to damage caused by tornadoes, thunderstorms, large hail, and straight-line winds.

Governor Abbott's request follows an analysis of the damage sustained in impacted communities conducted by local, state, and federal officials. The analysis verifies that Victoria County meets the federally required thresholds for SBA assistance. Officials also reviewed disaster damage details provided by Texans through the self-reporting Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) surveys. Affected Texans can continue to report damage online at damage.tdem.texas.gov.

Governor Abbott continues to take action to provide all available resources to support communities affected by severe weather, including:

• Announcing approval of SBA assistance for North Texas communities impacted by storms
• Amending the state disaster declaration for severe weather to include affected coastal communities and directing TDEM to request joint preliminary damage assessments with local and federal officials in additional storm-impacted areas
• Requesting SBA assistance for affected North Texas communities
• Adding Palo Pinto County to the state’s severe weather disaster declaration
• Issuing a disaster declaration for North Texas storms and directing TDEM to request joint preliminary damage assessments with local and federal officials in storm-impacted communities
• Activating state emergency response resources ahead of severe weather risks