Abbott Requests SBA Disaster Declaration for El Paso County Flooding
A Nov. 11 announcement says Governor Abbott has asked the U.S. Small Business Administration to declare a disaster in El Paso County after a storm the governor certified as beginning Oct. 23. The SBA has not approved the request in that announcement.
Governor Greg Abbott has asked the U.S. Small Business Administration to issue a disaster declaration for El Paso County after a late-October storm and flash flooding. In a Nov. 11 announcement, the governor's office said the request covers "severe storms and flooding that impacted communities in Far West Texas late last month" and that, if the SBA approves it, eligible homeowners, renters, businesses, and private nonprofit organizations would be able to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans "to assist with recovery and rebuilding efforts."
The Nov. 11 release is a request, not an approval. The governor's office did not say the SBA had granted the declaration, did not publish loan amounts or interest rates for this event, and did not give a decision date. This report does not treat federal loans as already available in El Paso County under this ask. It is also a different storm, and a different federal program, than the Disaster Unemployment Assistance now being accepted in 20 counties after the July floods. El Paso County was not on that list.
"Texas will support the families and businesses impacted by the recent severe storms and flooding in El Paso County," Abbott said in the release. "This request will help provide eligible Texans with access to low-interest disaster loans they need to rebuild their homes, businesses, and communities. Together with our federal partners, Texas will ensure Texans have the resources they need to recover." Those are his stated aims for a declaration that, as of the announcement, still required federal action.
The SBA request sits on top of a state disaster declaration the governor already issued for the same county. A proclamation dated Oct. 29, 2026, and signed that day in Austin, certifies that "the severe storm event that began on October 23, 2026, and that included heavy rainfall and flash flooding, poses a threat of imminent disaster, including widespread and severe property damage, injury, or loss of life in El Paso County." Citing Section 418.014 of the Texas Government Code, Abbott declared a state of disaster in El Paso County. The signed instrument, filed with Secretary of State Robert S. Howden at 3:20 p.m. on Oct. 29, names only that county. This report has not independently tallied rainfall, damage, injuries, or deaths, and it does not add counties the proclamation does not name. A House bill filed this month, as Dock Line reported, would amend that same Disaster Act section to require the Legislature to renew a state declaration after 30 days. That bill has not become law. This story is about the El Paso request and the existing state declaration.
The Oct. 29 text authorizes, under Section 418.017 as the proclamation cites it, "the use of all available resources of state government and of political subdivisions that are reasonably necessary to cope with this disaster." It also addresses regulatory suspensions under Section 418.016 as cited in the document: any regulatory statute prescribing the procedures for conduct of state business, or any state-agency order or rule that would prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with the disaster, "shall be suspended upon written approval of the Office of the Governor." Separately, the proclamation authorizes the suspension of state statutes or administrative rules on contracting or procurement for the duration of the declared disaster when their enforcement "would impede any state agency's emergency response that is necessary to protect life or property threatened by this declared disaster." Those are the proclamation's own terms. This report does not read additional meaning into them from the statutes site.
The Nov. 11 release said Abbott's SBA request "follows an analysis of the damage sustained in impacted communities conducted by local, state, and federal officials." It also said the state disaster declaration "remains in effect for El Paso County as state resources continue supporting local recovery efforts." The announcement encouraged people whose homes or businesses were damaged to keep reporting that damage through the Texas Division of Emergency Management's Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool, which the release lists online at damage.tdem.texas.gov, and said information from the survey "helps state and local officials assess the extent of disaster impacts and identify additional recovery needs." This report has not independently counted how many surveys have been filed or what the damage analysis found.
Two official facts should not be collapsed into one. The Oct. 29 proclamation is a state declaration for El Paso County after a storm the governor certified as beginning on Oct. 23. The Nov. 11 announcement is a request that the SBA issue its own declaration so that, if approved, certain federal disaster loans could be offered. Until the SBA acts, the loan path described in the governor's release remains contingent. Readers in El Paso County should watch for an SBA decision rather than assume an application window has already opened. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).
