Texas tornadoes: Abbott declares disaster in these 16 counties after Monday’s storms
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed a disaster declaration for 16 counties that sustained damage from large hail and deadly tornadoes on Monday, waiving certain regulations to speed up recovery and assistance.
The counties are: Bastrop, Cass, Cooke, Grayson, Guadalupe, Houston, Jack, Madison, Marion, Montague, Nacogdoches, Panola, Rusk, Upshur, Williamson, and Wise.
A 73-year-old woman was killed in Grayson County, north of Dallas. At least 10 other people were injured there.
While there are multiple reports of tornado damage across North Texas, as of Tuesday morning the National Weather Service so far has been able to confirm three located in Jacksboro, Grayson County and Montague County.
The disaster declaration “authorizes the use of all available resources of state government and of political subdivisions that are reasonably necessary to cope with this disaster.”
Abbott spoke at Faith Community Hospital in Jacksboro, in Jack County about 60 miles northeast of Fort Worth, where the storm destroyed homes and caused minor injuries.
The Jacksboro High School gym and Jacksboro Elementary School gym were destroyed Monday evening. The superintendent of schools said that he expects classes to resume Monday.
Abbott thanked Jacksboro city leaders and first-responders.
The Twin Lakes Community Activity Center at 1114 TX-59, Jacksboro, is a shelter location for displaced residents. Jack County Youth Fair Barn at 1072 TX-59, Jacksboro, is accepting donations of supplies for victims.
Megan Cardona contributed to this story.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 1:28 PM.
