Governor Abbott deploys additional state resources to support Hurricane Helene recovery in North Carolina

THE WOODLANDS, TX — Governor Greg Abbott today announced that he directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to deploy additional emergency response personnel to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in North Carolina following a request from North Carolina Emergency Management.

“Cecilia and I continue to pray for the families who lost loved ones to Hurricane Helene and for all who are impacted," said Governor Abbott. "The State of Texas is deploying additional emergency management personnel to North Carolina to help support their recovery efforts, mass care, disaster finance, logistics, and more. Texans understand firsthand the devastating impact a hurricane can have on our communities. We will continue to support our fellow Americans in North Carolina as they begin to recover and move forward from this devastating disaster.”

At the Governor’s direction, TDEM has deployed an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Support Team to provide direct assistance to state and local emergency operations centers in impacted communities. These personnel, from TDEM’s Incident Support Task Force (ISTF), Disaster Recovery Task Force, and local jurisdictions in Texas, specialize in community disaster recovery, mass care, voluntary organization coordination, disaster finance, logistics, and other aspects of emergency management.

ISTF was created to assist jurisdictions affected by a disaster by starting the recovery process early in the response phase. The ISTF manages the Disaster Recovery Task Force, which the Governor signed into law in 2019, to provide specialized assistance for communities and individuals to address financial issues, available federal assistance programs, and recovery and resiliency planning to speed recovery efforts at the local level.

This deployment of resources is coordinated under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). EMAC is a state-to-state mutual aid system that enables states to provide assistance and share resources with another state in response to a disaster or emergency. EMAC members can share resources from all disciplines, protect personnel who deploy, and be reimbursed for mission-related costs. For more information, visit emacweb.org.

Governor Abbott continues to take action to support Hurricane Helene response and recovery efforts, including:

• Mobilizing emergency veterinary resources to North Carolina to support response and recovery efforts
• Deploying emergency power generators to Georgia following the storm
• Deploying Texas A&M Task Force 1 to Florida ahead of storm impacts