Federal aid granted to county governments in North Texas following major storms

15 counties have been added to the state's long list for help due to the severe weather and flooding that began April 26.

Bosque, Cooke, Fannin, Hamilton Henderson, Kaufman, Rockwall, and Van Zandt counties are included in the latest round of federal disaster assistance.

The announcement was made Tuesday morning by The Texas Division of Emergency Management or TDEM.

"At the direction of Governor Abbott, TDEM requested that FEMA add these and other counties to the Federal Disaster Declaration to help ensure communities impacted by severe weather have the financial assistance they need to rebuild and recover,” said Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd. "I thank FEMA for working alongside Texas emergency management officials to provide all necessary resources and support to our state following the severe weather our communities endured this spring. The Texas Division of Emergency Management will continue to work alongside local emergency management officials to ensure our communities and fellow Texans receive the support they need throughout the long-term recovery process."

While homeowners were offered assistance from FEMA shortly after the storms, the latest round of federal aid focuses on the repairs and rebuilding of public roads, bridges, and parks.

County leaders in North Texas said the cost of damages quickly tallied up to at least hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to Kaufman County’s Emergency Management Coordinator, Steve Howie, if it weren’t for the federal assistance, repairs could have likely taken years to complete.

“It has been a daunting task,” Howie said. “Our threshold is $668,426, and we had to pass that before they would issue the declaration for public assistance.”

Damage estimates were determined by state military members and are well above the threshold.

“The numbers that we submitted are close to three million dollars,” Howie said. “The Texas State Guard deployed up here through TDEM for a week. They brought 94 people up here to help us without damage assessments and debris estimation. Those are some unsung heroes in our state.”

For Kaufman County, the main priority will be to pick up debris in communities including College Mound which is located about five miles southeast of Terrell.

“Lots of it has been pushed to the side of the road. It needs to be cut up and cleaned up,” Howie said.”

One of the country’s biggest projects includes rebuilding Valley View Road located north of Forney.

“Water saturated underneath the actual road surface, which is asphalt,” Howie said. “It became literally a squishy road. And it has been blocked off since because when you walk across it, it kind of squishes. Commissioner Skeet Phillips was afraid it would collapse with a car on it.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the road remains blocked off to traffic. Howie said it could cost the county well over $750,000.

However, FEMA will help cover the bulk of the cost for Kaufman and other counties.

“It’s a tremendous relief because now FEMA is going to provide funds,” Howie said. “It’s a 75 to 25 split. Now we can afford to get this debris managed, picked up, cleaned up.”

With the latest approval of counties for the Public Assistance Program, TDEM said it brings the total qualifying entities eligible to apply for various forms of federal disaster assistance to 63 counties.

However, more could be added to the list as 26 counties are still pending review by FEMA.