Abbott Says Power Is Being Restored but Water Remains a Challenge

Since our press conference yesterday, power has been restored to nearly two million homes across Texas. There continue to be approximately 325,000 Texans without power. However, those without power are not without power because of the lack of ability to generate power. Instead, those without power are being impacted either by power lines that are down or the need to manually reconnect the premises to power. I also had a call earlier today with water providers to work on additional ways to expedite getting clean water to Texas. We are in the process, as we speak, of evaluating waivers, as well as executive orders, that can be used to speed up that process. I am making a formal request of the president for a major disaster declaration. If granted, this will give Texans the ability to apply for individual assistance from FEMA. That individual assistance will assist them with funding to restore damage to their homes to the extent that it is not covered by private insurance. Now, we know because of the storm that will continue to sweep across parts of Texas tonight that we are not yet out of this, but we’re closer to this challenge being behind us. We will not stop until normalcy is restored to your lives.