Texas lawmakers press Biden on FEMA assistance in wake of Hurricane Beryl

More than a dozen members of Texas’s congressional delegation are pressing President Biden in a letter Friday to approve additional federal assistance for Texans impacted by Hurricane Beryl.

“Many residents in and around the Houston area have been without power for several days with heat indexes exceeding 100 degrees daily,” the letter from 19 lawmakers reads. “They urgently need the resources FEMA can provide.”

The bipartisan group of legislators, led by Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas), is calling on the White House to approve funding under FEMA’s Individual Assistance program. The program provides financial assistance to households with uninsured or underinsured expenses following a disaster. 

The administration has already approved two forms of federal assistance through the Hazard Mitigation Assistance program, which funds disaster prevention, and Public Assistance for state and local government.

“More immediately, though, the vast majority of our constituents require Individual Assistance (IA),” the lawmakers wrote, “as they are much more vulnerable on an individual basis in their respective homes while their communities focus on the recovery and rehabilitation of their municipalities at large.”

Hurricane Beryl made landfall near Matagorda, Texas, on Monday, causing significant flooding and wind damage to several parts of the state. Federal aid to the state was not approved until Tuesday, which Biden said was due to Texas officials failing to make a formal request for a major disaster declaration.

“I’ve been trying to track down the governor to see — I don’t have any authority to do that without a specific request from the governor,” Biden said Tuesday in an interview with the Houston Chronicle.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has stepped in as acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is abroad on an economic development trip. The aid was approved once Biden and Patrick connected Tuesday.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter from lawmakers.