BEAUMONT, Texas — Texas and county officials met Wednesday in Jasper to discuss Hurricane Beryl response and recovery in Jasper County.
Acting Governor Dan Patrick, Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd and Texas Representative Dade Phelan joined local officials for the meeting at the Jasper Emergency Operations Center.
Beryl made landfall near Matagorda as a category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph at about 4 a.m. Monday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. By 10 a.m. Beryl had been downgraded to a tropical storm.
By midday Beryl was moving through the Lakes Region and spawned multiple tornado warnings and one confirmed tornado.
The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-2 tornado touched down near Jasper on Monday afternoon.
Patrick was there to discuss ways to help Southeast Texas rebuild and move forward.
"I was at work and I lost my garage. I had a collector car that's underneath all of this, and I lost my kitchen and dining room," said Keith Tinsley.
Tinsley is one of the many residents still dealing with the aftermath of the EF-2 tornado that tore through Jasper Monday.
"I'm glad I have insurance," said Tinsley.
In the meeting Lieutenant Governor Patrick wanted the people of Jasper to know that they were not alone.
"We want to learn, we want to take notes of what is needed, but most importantly we want the people of Jasper County and all these surrounding counties to know that you're just as important as anyone in Houston," said Patrick.
Patrick also addressed President Biden's claims that accused him of failing to request federal assistance in a timely manner.
"He doesn't understand that in Texas we didn't need his generators because we filled every request and still have generators. He was trying to give us things we didn't need to say look what I've done," said Patrick.
Jasper County Judge Mark Allen says that disaster declarations have been issued at both a county and state level.
On Tuesday, President Biden issued a major disaster declaration for dozens of counties including Jasper.
Now Allen is hoping the federal government will issue one to help families rebuild.
"It's a key component in also getting help for our people for individual assistance by doing that declaration it opens those doors up," said Allen.
It's this federal help that Tinsley could qualify for.
I know they're doing what they can so I'm patient," said Tinsley.
Patrick also spoke on the numerous tornado warnings issued for Jasper County, he urged residents to heed each alert.
"I can't control the weather, I cant control the national hurricane center. I'd rather for them to be fatigued than for them to lose their life or their house," said Patrick.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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