Governor Abbott Directs State Resources ahead of Severe Weather

AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management on Wednesday to prepare state emergency response resources ahead of a severe storm system expected to move across North, East, Central, and Southeast Texas beginning through Thursday evening.

The storm system is expected to bring an increased risk of severe weather, including damaging winds, large hail, tornados, heavy rain, and potential flash flooding.

“Texans across the state should remain weather-aware as this severe storm system moves across portions of Texas this week,” said Governor Abbott. “The State of Texas is fully prepared to assist local officials and emergency response personnel on the ground to keep our communities safe. We remain on standby to provide any additional resources that may be necessary over the course of this storm.”

At the direction of the Governor, TDEM has activated the following state resources to support severe weather response operations:

Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1 and Texas Task Force 2): Urban Search and Rescue Teams

TDEM has the following state resources on standby to respond if conditions warrant:

Texas A&M Forest Service: Saw Crews and Incident Management Teams

Texas Department of State Health Services: Texas Emergency Medical Task Force Severe Weather Packages

Texas Department of Transportation: Monitoring road conditions

Texas Department of Public Safety (Texas Highway Patrol): Search and Rescue Aircraft with hoist capability; Tactical Marine Unit

Texas National Guard: High-profile vehicle platoons

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department: Game wardens and boat teams

Public Utility Commission of Texas: Power outage monitoring and coordinating with utility providers in the threat area

Texas Commission on Environmental Qualify: Air/water/wastewater monitoring

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service: Disaster Assessment and Recovery Agents

Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service: Texas A&M Public Works Response Team

Texas Division of Emergency Management: Disaster Recovery Task Force and state mass care coordination

According to the Governor, TDEM has alerted all members of the Texas Emergency Management Council to be prepared to support response and recovery operations across the state.