Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 23 counties affected by heavy rain since Sunday. In Dallas County, some areas 15 inches of rain in just five hours, and the rainfall was the most recorded in a 24 period in 90 years.
"But whatever you want to call it, whatever timeframe you want to put on it, we got hit pretty hard," says Mayor Eric Johnson. "We got hit in a historic way."
Abbott met with Johnson, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and Mesquite Mayor Daniel Aleman. Flood water killed one person in Mesquite.
"What people in the Dallas area and this entire region sustained was an extraordinary challenge," Abbott says. "But also being Texans means being responsive to challenges like this."
Abbott is urging people to file claims with their insurance company and sign up for resources with the Texas Division of Emergency Management HERE. He says that can let state and local governments begin to tally damage totals and make a decision on whether to apply for a federal disaster declaration.
"We need to aggregate the damages across the entire region," he says. "Our goal would be to try to have an early assessment of all of those damages by the end of this week."
Nim Kidd, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, says about half of homes and businesses in flood hazard areas of Dallas County do not have insurance.
The disaster declaration covers these counties:
Camp
Culberson
Dallas
Duval
Ellis
El Paso
Henderson
Hopkins
Hudspeth
Kaufman
Kerr
Live Oak
Marion
Montague
Navarro
Pecos
Rains
Smith
Tarrant
Upshur
Van Zandt
Webb
Wood
Tuesday, the Red Cross was operating two shelters in North Texas for people whose homes were damaged:
Balch Springs Recreation Center
4372 Shepherd Ln
Balch Springs, TX 75180
Everman Civic Center
213 N. Race St
Everman, TX 96140
The Red Cross' Brian Murnahan says the shelters will stay open as long as necessary. He says the organization started planning when the forecast started taking shape Friday.
"Our list of resources and contacts is extensive, and that's one of the things that really provides a lot of value to our community because we're able to make those connections," he says.
Murnahan says people can get something to eat or drink, but volunteers will also listen to evacuees' problems and start connecting them to organizations that can help with clean up.
"They're just there to make sure you get through the day, that you have a place to stay, that you're feeling loved and supported," he says.
The Red Cross had been responding to wildfires across Texas and is now working with people in the 23 counties affected by the disaster declaration for flooding. Murnahan says the organization has the resources needed for a string of disaster, but the Red Cross is always in need of additional volunteers.
"Almost immediately, we're going to roll back into wildfire season and hurricane season," he says. "The need for volunteers is, unfortunately, always there."
People can learn more about volunteering here.
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