FEMA authorizes federal disaster assistance for Kerr County, 27 other Texas counties

FEMA announced Saturday that federal disaster assistance is now available to Texas to supplement state, tribal and local response to the flooding that began July 12 and has continued since, marking a significant step forward from Gov. Greg Abbott’s request just one day earlier. President Trump signed the declaration on Saturday.

The declaration authorizes FEMA to coordinate all federal disaster relief efforts “to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.”

The assistance covers 28 counties, including Kerr County: Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Brewster, Comal, Crockett, Dimmit, Edwards, Frio, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Mason, Maverick, Medina, Menard, Real, Schleicher, Sutton, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Wilson and Zavala.

Under this declaration, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize and provide equipment and resources needed to address the emergency, at its discretion. Emergency protective measures — limited to direct federal assistance — will be funded at 75% by the federal government.

Roland W. Jackson has been named Federal Coordinating Officer for the response in the affected area. Additional disaster designations, including the individual and public assistance programs that would open SBA loans and FEMA aid for individual residents and businesses, may still come at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by further damage assessments.

What this means, and what it doesn’t — yet

This emergency declaration is a distinct, and earlier, step from the Major Disaster Declaration Abbott formally requested Friday. This authorization covers direct federal emergency response support — funding for protective measures during the active emergency — rather than the individual assistance programs, such as SBA disaster loans or FEMA grants for homeowners and businesses, that Kerr County residents and business owners have been waiting on.

Those broader recovery programs still depend on a separate major disaster declaration determination, which typically follows joint state-federal damage assessments. Business owners and residents should continue reporting damage at damage.tdem.texas.gov and Disaster.Texas.Gov, as that data remains central to whether and when those additional programs are approved.

This is a developing story and will be updated.