The Texas Division of Emergency Management has re-requested that an additional 32 counties – including Starr County - be added to the federal Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance. 

Gov. Greg Abbott made the announcement in a Tuesday news release.

PREVIOUS STORY: Willacy County added to federal major disaster declaration

Starr County remains the only county in the Valley that hasn’t gotten a major disaster declaration.

The governor originally requested Individual Assistance for all 254 Texas counties last month following the Winter Storm Urie which knocked out power to over 4 million Texans at one point. The White House responded to the request with three separate partial approvals to a total of 126 counties.

The partial approvals include individual and public assistance to those requesting it.

"I urge FEMA to quickly grant this request so that we can connect Texans in these counties with the assistance that they need," said Governor Abbott. "Texans who suffered property damage from the winter storm should continue to complete the iSTAT so that the state can secure more assistance for our communities."

Counties included in this request are: Archer, Callahan, Camp, Cass, Coleman, Delta, Dimmit, Fayette, Frio, Hamilton, Hardeman, Kerr, Kinney, Lamar, Lee, Marion, Menard, Midland, Mills, Mitchell, Nolan, Rains, Red River, Refugio, San Augustine, Shackelford, Starr, Titus, Uvalde, Wilbarger, Zapata, Zavala.

Texans are urged to fill out the TDEM's State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) to help the state identify damages across Texas and help emergency management officials gain an understanding of damages that occurred during the recent severe winter by visiting damage.tdem.texas.gov or calling 844-844-3089.