FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2007
CONTACT: Geoff Embler or Matt Mackowiak
Sens. Hutchison, Cornyn Urge Expedited Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Recovery Efforts for Texas Counties
WASHINGTON -- In a letter sent to the White House today, U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX) urged President George W. Bush to expedite Governor Rick Perry’s (R-TX) request for a federal disaster declaration for Texas counties that have suffered damage recently from Hurricane Humberto.
Earlier today, Gov. Perry requested federal assistance for the following counties: Jefferson, Orange, Chambers, and Galveston.
The text of the letter is included below:
Dear Mr. President:
As you know, Governor Perry has requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Jefferson, Orange, Chambers, and Galveston counties as a result of damage caused by Hurricane Humberto. We ask you to carefully consider this request, which would expedite valuable federal assistance to impacted Texas communities.
Humberto was the quickest forming hurricane on record, going from a tropical depression to a Category 1 hurricane in a span of hours. The unexpected appearance of this storm off the Texas coast left over 100,000 residents without power and first responders in Southeast Texas scrambling to make preparations for landfall. Additionally, the heavy rains and strong winds of Humberto came at the end of a difficult summer, where severe flooding has saturated much of our state.
We ask you to give this request its due consideration, as we believe this declaration would be helpful in ensuring that important mitigation and recovery assistance is made available to the residents of these counties as soon as possible. We appreciate the efforts underway by the Federal Government to coordinate with state authorities, and you may be certain that we will work with the Administration to aid the victims of this disaster.
Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
U.S. Senator John Cornyn
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