BEAUMONT, Texas — As FEMA continues damage assessments from Tropical Storm Imelda, Southeast Texas is waiting on Governor Greg Abbott to request a Presidential Disaster Declaration.
Initial assessments completed on Monday confirm 903 uninsured homes had substantial damage from Imelda. That means there was at least 18" of water inside the home.
That puts the area above the 800 home threshold used to declare a federal disaster declaration.
"The main question on everyone’s minds is if and when a Presidential Declaration will be made to allow FEMA assistance for individuals," Chambers County PIO Ryan Holzaepfel said in an email to 12News Tuesday. "As of (Tuesday) morning, FEMA assessment teams are still in several jurisdictions in the region gathering figures in order to reach the financial threshold required to trigger this declaration. It may be another week or so before these teams are finished."
Galveston, Hardin, Liberty, Newton, Orange, Jasper and San Jacinto Counties have completed the assessment to date, Texas Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Seth Christensen said. Jefferson County is still counting flooded homes as of Monday afternoon.
Governor Abbott has signed off on local disaster declarations filed in the hours after the storm. Those declarations were sent to the White House.
Abbott previously declared a state of disaster in several counties, including Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Newton, Orange and San Jacinto.
FEMA crews are completing about 60 homes per team, officials said. Congressman Randy Weber's office said Southeast Texas may need additional teams to keep assessing homes.
“We're pushing FEMA to try and get the job done quickly so that we can find out if we're going to make it so we'll know what type of assistance we can expect," Jefferson County Emergency Management coordinator Michael R. White told 12News last week.
12News has contacted the White House Press Office asking if President Trump will grant a disaster declaration request from the governor. So far there has been no response.
