President Joe Biden has stated that Texas is in a major disaster as residents continue to grapple with the aftermath of a catastrophic winter storm that hit the central and southern US earlier this week.
As of Saturday morning, the storm had been linked to at least 27 deaths in the state, and food and safe drinking water were in some sort of provision for millions of Texans.
With the grand disaster statement, people in 77 of Texas’s 254 counties are eligible for federal funding to aid in recovery efforts. The aid includes subsidies for temporary housing and home repairs, as well as “cheap loans” to cover uninsured property losses, the White House said in a statement Saturday.
The federal aid can also be used for programs that help individuals and business owners recover from the winter storm.
If necessary, the White House said additional designations could be established at a later date.
Mr. Biden tweeted Thursday that he will “work ruthlessly” to get Texas what it needs to cope with the storm’s aftermath.
Mr. Biden has also said he intends to visit the state as soon as it is safe to do so without disrupting response to disasters.
Texas has seen nearly a week of freezing temperatures. The frozen impact of the storm that hit the area last Sunday put devastating strain on the state’s infrastructure, causing blackouts and burst pipes.
The top Texas power grid official said the system was “seconds and minutes” away to leave residents without power for months when the storm hit. On Friday, operators said the electrical system was back to normal. Yet many in the state are struggling to recover.
As of Saturday morning, 7 million people – about a quarter of the entire state population – remained under a boiling water advisory, limiting their access to safe water.
Many of the roughly 29 million residents living in the state are in dire need of supplies. Omar Villafranca of CBS News reported that 13,000 crates of water were distributed at just one distribution location in Houston. In Dallas, 25,000 meal packs are waiting to be delivered to those in need this weekend.
Eric Gay / AP