Governor Abbott Activates State Emergency Response Resources Ahead Of Severe Weather Threats
Governor Greg Abbott today directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to activate state emergency response resources ahead of anticipated weather threats across Texas throughout the weekend.
"Texas stands ready to provide assistance to our fellow Texans as anticipated winter weather and severe storms impact communities across the state this weekend," said Governor Abbott. "Texans are urged to remain weather-aware and heed the guidance of their local officials and first responders to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Texans can monitor road conditions at DriveTexas.org and find contact information for their local utility provider at puc.texas.gov/storm in the event of a localized power outage."
According to the National Weather Service, this storm system is expected to bring potentially disruptive snowfall to the Texas Panhandle and South Plains regions. Additionally, areas of Central and East Texas face a severe storm threat to include potential for heavy rainfall leading to flash flooding and river flooding, as well as large hail and damaging wind throughout the weekend.
At the direction of Governor Abbott, TDEM has activated the following state emergency response resources to support weather response operations:
- Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1): Swiftwater boat squads
- Texas Department of Transportation: Personnel and equipment to pre-treat and treat roadways, monitor road conditions, and assist with traffic control and road closures
- Texas National Guard: Personnel and winter weather packages
Additionally, TDEM has placed the following resources on standby to support winter storm response operations as needed:
- Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1 and Texas Task Force 2): Urban Search and Rescue Teams with boat capabilities
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Game Wardens and boat squads
- Texas A&M Forest Service: Incident Management Teams and saw crews
- Texas Department of State Health Services (Emergency Medical Task Force): Severe weather packages
- Texas Department of Public Safety: Tactical Marine Unit and helicopters with hoist capabilities
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: Air/water/wastewater monitoring
- Public Utility Commission of Texas: Power outage monitoring and coordinating with utility providers across the threat area
- Railroad Commission of Texas: Monitoring of the state’s natural gas supply and communication with the oil and gas industry
Texans are urged to prepare for severe weather impacts by taking safety precautions, including heeding warnings of local officials, making an emergency plan, and monitoring local weather forecasts. Additional storm preparedness information can be found at TexasReady.gov.
Texans can check road conditions at DriveTexas.org and access flood tracking information at TexasFlood.org.
If localized power outages occur due to severe storms, visit puc.texas.gov/storm to locate contact information for local utility providers.
Warming centers opened and operated by local officials are listed at tdem.texas.gov/warm.