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Update: On Friday afternoon, President Joe Biden announced an amendment to the original major disaster declaration that now releases funding for individuals impacted by Hurricane Beryl through FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The amendment applies to 15 Texas counties – Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Harris, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Orange, Polk, San Jacinto, Walker and Wharton. It allows for residents to request federal aid to help recover from property losses that are not covered through their own insurance.
Financial assistance requests may cover “funding to repair or replace their homes, temporary housing, access to low-interest loans or other programs to help them jumpstart their recovery,” according to a FEMA news release.
This week, President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration for Texas to help address the damage caused by Hurricane Beryl. This declaration, however, does not provide direct aid to individuals just yet. Here’s what we know.
On Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency – FEMA – announced the major disaster declaration for 67 affected counties throughout Texas, including Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery and other surrounding counties.
This declaration releases federal funds “to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Beryl,” according to a FEMA news release. The funds are issued on a cost-sharing basis to local governments and some nonprofit organizations.
As of early Thursday, what was missing was a federal disaster declaration for individual aid, like the one approved for the damage done by the derecho storm that hit the area in May, said FEMA spokesperson Fabian Gutierrez.
This hold on individual relief comes after Biden pointed the finger at Texas officials for a delay in federal disaster aid, as reported first by the Houston Chronicle. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has taken the reins of hurricane response in the absence of Gov. Greg Abbott, who is on an economic development trip in Asia.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be one big disaster including the derecho disaster, or if it will be two different events,” Gutierrez said. “I’m still waiting to find out all of those details and they’ll be sorted out.”
This declaration could be coming from Washington soon, Gutierrez added, but there is no clear timeline of how soon it will happen.
The FEMA disaster recovery centers that were opened after the derecho storm are slowly starting to reopen after Beryl, Gutierrez said, where people could only apply for federal aid for derecho storm damage at the moment.
For now, impacted Texans are able to report any damage through the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The state website offers an online Individual State Assessment Tool, or iSTAT, to survey damage sustained at a residence, commercial space, or agricultural property.
These online surveys are available in English and Spanish. Users are encouraged to take photos of their damage and upload them to these surveys to get a better understanding of the extent of the damage.
“Information provided through the iSTAT damage survey helps point emergency management officials to damage in affected areas,” states a news release issued by the office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday.
“Additionally, survey information aids officials in determining whether the state meets federal requirements for various forms of federal disaster assistance.”
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