ROUND ROCK, Texas — Federal, state and local disaster investigators are on the ground across Round Rock as they continue to assess the damage from the March 21 tornado that ripped through the area.
In a press conference Wednesday, Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said the assessment phase will continue through at least the rest of the week.
So far, residents affected by last week’s storms have told civic leaders they are in need of paper products, toiletries and analgesic drugs.
State leaders have also been part of the damage assessment throughout the area and are urging people who haven’t gotten in touch with investigators to begin that process immediately.
“We still do encourage people to report damages. If you have damages to any of your property you can go online,” said Bruce Clements of the Texas Department of Emergency Management.
“It’s really essential that we get all of the details of all of the damage so that FEMA has the full picture and it can really maximize our opportunities to get additional support in,” he added.
While the assessment continues, some resources have already been made available. Gravell said county leaders have been authorized to issue vouchers to cover the cost of landfill use for affected residents removing storm debris from their property.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have also been working with state and local agencies to document and validate the damage and begin the process of distributing help.
“We’re going door to door speaking to people about the extent of their damages, uploading that information into a statewide system,” said Ben Akers, a representative from FEMA.
Akers said there are more steps to be taken before a disaster declaration can be issued at the federal level, but insists the agency is doing its part to understand the severity of the damage and use that information to help state and local leaders.
“The governor of Texas will utilize that information to determine the potential need for federal resources to supplement state and local resources,” he said.
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