Governor Greg Abbott today announced that he has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to deploy additional Texas emergency response personnel to Florida as Hurricane Milton moves through the Gulf of Mexico, following a request from the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “Our country is stronger when we come together in times of crisis, and Texas is immediately deploying additional support to help our fellow Americans as Florida braces for this major hurricane,” said Governor Abbott. “I directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy more emergency management personnel to assist Floridians in preparation for this devastating hurricane. I thank all the emergency response personnel and first responders from Texas and across the country for working tirelessly to protect Americans from Hurricane Milton’s destruction.” At the direction of Governor Abbott, TDEM has deployed an Incident Management Team consisting of emergency management personnel to support incident command, planning, operations, logistics, resource coordination, and disaster finance to assist with Florida’s Hurricane Milton emergency response operations. These resources are in addition to the deployment of swiftwater rescue boat squads and search and rescue personnel to assist with flood response efforts and other emergency management personnel to provide support for emergency response resource coordination efforts yesterday ahead of impacts from Hurricane Milton. 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. At Governor Abbott’s direction, Texas has deployed nearly 200 first responders to support hurricane response and recovery efforts across the southeastern United States, including:
- Deploying emergency response resources to Florida to support Hurricane Milton response and disaster recovery resources to Tennessee to support Hurricane Helene recovery
- Deploying Incident Support Task Force personnel to North Carolina to assist state and local emergency operations centers communities impacted by Hurricane Helene
- Deploying emergency veterinary resources to North Carolina to support Hurricane Helene response and recovery efforts
- Deploying emergency power generators to Georgia following Hurricane Helene
- Deploying Texas A&M Task Force 1 urban search and rescue resources to Florida ahead of storm impacts from Hurricane Helene