US Texas governor issues disaster declaration

Houston, Aug 24 (Agency) Greg Abbott, governor of south central US state Texas, signed a disaster declaration to free up more state resources for 23 counties impacted by severe weather and deadly flash flooding.”It’s our understanding what happened yesterday (Monday) was the second worst flooding in Dallas since 1932,” Abbott said on Tuesday at a press conference in Dallas. “The effect of this storm has been dramatic here in Dallas and Fort Worth, but across multiple regions around the state of Texas,” the governor added.

A 60-year-old female Uber driver was killed in Mesquite, east of Dallas, when flash flooding swept her car off a road bridge on Monday. About 100 homes were reportedly damaged in north Texas and the number is expected to climb, authorities said.Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said on Twitter that based on preliminary damage assessments, he was declaring a state of disaster in Dallas County and requesting state and federal assistance. The governor encouraged residents to report the amount of damage they sustained via a tool called iSTAT, which the state will collect data to help determine if the damage qualifies the state for federal assistance.