LIVE UPDATES: Biden approves Texas disaster declaration as millions still on boil-water notices

Published February 20, 2021

President Joe Biden announced Saturday that he had declared a major disaster in Texas and ordered federal assistance to aid in local and state recovery efforts as millions of residents suffer the effect of severe winter storms.

The action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in 77 different counties and includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs.

Food and water shortages remained in the Lonestar State and other winter weather-stricken swaths of the South, even as forecasts showed warmer temperatures and power had been restored to homes.

Fast Facts

Store shelves in the state have empty rows where perishable food would normally appear and officials have been handing out bottled water to help out amid "overwhelming demand."
As of Friday evening, there were about 137,000 homes without power reported across Texas. That’s down from more than 4 million earlier this week.

Store shelves in the state have empty rows where perishable food would normally appear and officials have been handing out bottled water to help out amid "overwhelming demand."

As of Friday evening, there were about 137,000 homes without power reported across Texas. That’s down from more than 4 million earlier this week.

Store shelves were empty where perishable food would normally appear and officials handed out bottled water to help out amid "overwhelming demand."

Nearly half of Texas’ population was instructed to boil water before drinking it after the icy weather disrupted water treatment facilities. Hundreds of thousands of residents in other affected states were under similar advisories.

Follow below for updates on the winter storm. Mobile users click here.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/live-updates-texas-storm-2-20-21