I spoke today with Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

On the call, I raised the need for an emergency declaration and immediately approved a Major Disaster Declaration for the damage sustained from the hurricane, which ripped through Texas’ Gulf Coast and Houston yesterday.

FEMA has had resources on the ground since well before the storm and will support the needs of the state.

The greatest concern right now is the power outages and extreme heat that is impacting Texans. As you all know, extreme heat kills more Americans than all the other natural disasters combined.

As part of the federal support, we pre-positioned generators and are moving in additional ones to support any power outages, which will help Texans as the extreme heat arrives. 

With this Major Disaster Declaration in place, we will provide life-saving and life-sustaining activities, and any other Federal resource that Texas needs. We will be with the people of Texas for as long as it takes to recover.

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