President Trump Declares a Major Disaster for Texas Due to Coronavirus

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump issued a Major Disaster Declaration for Texas due to the coronavirus pandemic. The declaration was made after a request from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

"Texas is aggressively pursuing and implementing all necessary strategies to limit the impact of COVID-19, and I thank President Trump for his swift action to issue a Major Disaster Declaration for the State of Texas," said Governor Abbott. "The President’s declaration opens up new sources of funding for individual and public assistance that will help Texas respond to this public health emergency and protect public health and safety."

The Major Disaster Declaration allows new sources of federal funding to come to Texas in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

COMPLETE TEXT OF PRESIDENT TRUMP'S DECLARATION:
MARCH 25, 2020

Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Texas and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic beginning on January 20, 2020, and continuing.

The President’s action makes Federal funding available for Crisis Counseling for affected individuals in all areas in the State of Texas.

Federal funding is also available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations for emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, for all areas in the State of Texas impacted by COVID-19.

Pete Gaynor, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named George A. Robinson as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further assessments.