Cass included in the Governor’s Proclamation Amendment

On June 5, Cass County Judge Travis Ransom issued a disaster declaration for Cass County, Texas after it “suffered and continues to suffer widespread severe damage and loss of property resulting from severe weather beginning on the 8th day of May 2024 and continuing to the present which produced heavy rain, damaging winds, hail, and straight-line winds/tornadic activity damaging numerous public and private structures and placing thousands of residents without electricity for multiple days.” At the time of the last article, Cass County was not on the list of the Texas Governor’s emergency proclamation. Cass is now on the list.

According to Ransom, “We have been diligently documenting uninsured damage to infrastructure from the storms in hopes of receiving state or federal assistance to offset the cost of repair and alleviate some of the burden away from local taxpayers.”

As part of the declaration, “the County Judge of Cass County has determined that extraordinary measures must be taken to alleviate the suffering of people and to protect or rehabilitate property.”

“This declaration of a local state of disaster activates the County of Cass emergency management plan.”

“An emergency management plan is a document that outlines how an organization will respond to an incident. It can help communities reduce vulnerabilities, cope with disasters, and improve disaster response plans. A well-structured plan can protect an organization’s people, assets, and financial stability, and can help speed up recovery,” according to Google.

Ransom told the Journal-Sun, that even though the proclamation was issued by the Governor, Cass County is not eligible yet for Federal Funding from the last weather event. “We have met our threshold at the county level but have not heard yet about reimbursement funding,” said Ransom.

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