SAN ANGELO, Texas – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott held a news briefing on Thursday afternoon to update the state’s continued response to flooding across Texas.
Abbott was joined at the San Angelo press conference by several state lawmakers, Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) Chief Nim Kidd, and other state and local officials.
The full Thursday afternoon news conference from San Angelo can be seen below.
Before he addressed the emergency personnel response in Tom Green County, where San Angelo is located, the governor said 135 people statewide were killed due to this month’s deadly flooding.
One hundred sixteen (116) of the 135 killed were from the “Kerrville area,” according to Abbott.
However, Kerr County officials reaffirmed on Thursday night that 107 people — 70 adults and 37 children — died due to this month’s flooding. Neighboring Kendall County previously reported nine additional deaths from the July 4 floods.
Currently, the combined number of flood-related fatalities from Kerr and Kendall counties is 116.
“We will continue the search for everybody in every single region that was affected by these devastating floods,” Abbott said. “While Kerrville has drawn a lot of attention, and there’s reasons for it. I think it’s the largest flood in the history of Texas. More people lost their lives in Kerrville than those who lost their lives in Hurricane Harvey — just to understand the magnitude of it.”
Meanwhile, Abbott spoke highly of the emergency response in Tom Green County, which he said began on July 3 when the state first deployed Texas Task Force 1 boat crews.
“I got to tell you: we’ve not seen a better response in the State of Texas (than in Tom Green County),” Abbott said.
Kidd, who sat to Abbott’s right at the news conference, appeared to shake his head in agreement with him.
“Actually, in talking to (TDEM) Chief Nim Kidd, we consider the way that Tom Green County — and I say ‘the county’ and that obviously involves the city (of San Angelo), your mayor, every local official at every level — we consider it to be a model for the way that communities need to respond to disasters like this," Abbott said.
During his visit to Tom Green County, Abbott spoke with first responders who told him that they prepared for major crises “months in advance.”
“Most importantly, they (Tom Green County first responders) prioritized saving lives,” Abbott said. “In any type of disaster, saving lives is the first and foremost thing that anybody should have. And that’s exactly what took place here.”
Background
Abbott has held a few news conferences over the last several days in cities affected by the deadly Fourth of July flooding.
Abbott’s full Monday afternoon news conference from Leander, located in the Austin area, can be seen in the video below.
More than 100 people across the state died in connection with the floods, with the largest concentration in Kerr County. This month’s flooding in the Hill Country has made it one of the deadliest in state history.
In Tom Green County, where San Angelo is located, one person was reported dead after the flooding.
Tom Green and several other counties affected by the flooding were made eligible for FEMA assistance after Abbott signaled a request to President Donald Trump to extend a major disaster declaration beyond Kerr County.
On Wednesday, Abbott added Maverick and Uvalde counties to the same declaration.
Hamilton, Lampasas and Sutton counties were also added to the declaration, bringing the total to 26 counties, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
In the days following the July 4 flooding, Abbott listed the catastrophe as one of the agenda items up for discussion during the state’s first special session later this month.
More recent related coverage of the Hill Country Floods on KSAT: