Last updated: 2:45 p.m., 8/23
The last time Dallas-Fort Worth got the kind of rain the area experienced yesterday, it was 1932. Bonnie and Clyde had just started their crime spree. The Lindbergh Baby had been kidnapped. The latest Marx Brother’s flick, Horse Feathers, was showing in movie theaters.
For most of us, the rain was an inconvenience that disrupted commutes. But for others, those floodwaters did real damage, which is why Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins declared a state of disaster for the county Monday afternoon. That declaration starts the ball rolling for further federal aid, provided the Federal Emergency Management Agency also finds that the area meets its criteria for more disaster aid. (That’s not necessarily a lock—after 2019’s EF3 tornado, FEMA denied the city of Dallas’ claim twice.)
If you’re one of those people, you are no doubt trying to make an insurance claim while also trying to figure out what is salvageable and whether you can actually live in your home while the flood damage is repaired.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, Dallas Fire Chief Dominique Artis, and Dallas City Emergency Manager Rocky Vaz briefed Gov. Greg Abbott today. Following that briefing, Abbott signed a disaster declaration for 23 counties hit hardest by the flooding, including Dallas and Tarrant counties. That declaration will allow the state to exercise emergency powers to respond to the disaster.
“Additional counties may be added as the storm system makes its way through the state,” Abbott said.
But while you are dealing with all of that, state and local officials are asking you to help make sure that the region gets all the federal and state assistance it can by completing a quick damage survey. It will help officials track that damage and determine whether the state (and the county) qualifies for more aid. Completing the survey doesn’t guarantee disaster relief, but the more people that complete it, the more it shores up the county’s argument that it needs help.
You can fill out the survey here.
“There are thresholds that must be met for each type of assistance,” Jenkins explained in a press release. Texas can dole out about $49 million per disaster for government agencies, and that money can be used to repair things like public buildings and roads. Assistance for property owners and renters isn’t capped, and flood damage that isn’t covered by homeowners or renters insurance could be covered by FEMA. Small business owners can also apply for no-interest or low-interest loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration following Jenkins’ declaration.
Rain is expected to fall sporadically today, but those totals will be nowhere near the 15 inches some parts of Dallas received Monday. The Trinity River, which rose to nearly 36 feet Monday in Dallas and overflowed its banks in Fort Worth, is expected to return to normal by Wednesday, according to National Weather Service data.
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