Flooding leads to disaster declaration

The Van Zandt County Commissioners met for the first time in 2016 on Monday, Jan. 4.

Commissioner and County Judge Don Kirkpatrick rang in the new year by ratifying and extending the local state of disaster declaration due to heavy flooding throughout Van Zandt County.

Heavy rains and turbulent weather hammered the county the weekend after Christmas, leading to washed out roads and stranded drivers on highways due to high water.

On Dec. 28, 2015, VZC County Judge Kirkpatrick issued a disaster declaration that requested state assistance from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

VZC Fire Marshal Chuck Allen asked the commissioners to extend the original declaration.

 “We are still not really sure how many homes were affected by the floods. The Red Cross is still doing door-to-door assessments. But, there were 20 homes reported to me that had been affected, “said Allen.

Allen also asked citizens on Facebook to contact his office if “significant damages to your residence as a result of the flooding had occurred during the Christmas weekend.  This would be water that came inside the house and caused damages or a place that was destroyed.”

Allen told the commissioners that representatives from FEMA and the state would be in the county Dec. 6 to assess the various locations that had reported damages. 

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