Biden declares major disaster in Texas after massive winter storm

President Biden signed a major disaster declaration Saturday for the most populated parts of winter storm ravaged Texas — assistance the state’s governor described as a “partial approval” of his appeal for federal help.

The president’s declaration approved individual assistance in 77 counties, and public assistance for emergency protective measures in all 254 counties of the Lone Star State.

Public assistance goes to repair or replace diaster damaged infrastructure or buildings, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Individual assistance is offered directly to residents who “sustained losses,” according to the agency.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pushed Thursday for individual and public assistance for all 254 counties in the state, and said he’ll keep asking for more help.

“While this partial approval is an important first step, Texas will continue to work with our federal partners to ensure all eligible Texans have access to the relief they need,” Abbott said in statement.

FEMA has so far shipped dozens of generators and supplies to the stricken areas.
Volunteers also poured into the region, including Bronx Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who helped pack boxes at a Houston food pantry Saturday during a trip to deliver more than $2 million she raised to help in the crisis.

Biden said he hopes to visit Texas next week, as long as his entourage doesn’t interfere with recovery efforts.

A state power outage map showed about 60,000 customers remained in the dark for the fifth day on Saturday. Officials said the remaining outages were due to downed power lines.

The latest problem to emerge is plumbing. With the freeze lasting days, bursting pipes caused countless floods in homes and businesses across the region, leaving behind billions of dollars in damage.

Texas is scrambling to find plumbers to help.

Abbott said the state is working with out-of-state companies to dispatch experts to help fix all the broken pipes. More than 320 plumbers renewed lapsed licenses so they can help with the repairs as well.

And it’s not just an issue with the plumbing inside buildings.

Millions across Texas remained without running water Saturday while half the state was under boil or conserve water orders because public drinking water systems suffered weather-related problems. The state capital, Austin, reported tens of thousands of leaks had formed in its water system during the freeze.

Water problems extended to several other states as well.

About 260,000 homes and businesses in the Tennessee county that includes Memphis were told to boil water as were the residents of Jackson, Mississippi. Residents of Little Rock, Arkansas, were asked to conserve water.

Water issues also hampered hospital operations across the South.

A man died at an Abilene, Texas, health care facility where the lack of water pressure made medical treatment impossible. His was one of at least 69 deaths across the U.S. blamed on the blast of winter weather.