News Release
For Immediate Release:
February 12, 2016
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Contact: Denise Perrin   Community Relations Manager

City of Rowlett   4000 Main St., 75088 or P.O. Box 99   Rowlett, TX 75030-0099
o 972.412.6192   dperrin@rowlett.com

Request for Individual Assistance Denied
ROWLETT, TX – The City of Rowlett has been informed that Governor Abbott’s office received an

official denial from the federal government for the Individual Assistance (IA) portion of his February
26 request for a major disaster declaration in the aftermath of the December 26, 2015 tornado. IA is
used to help individual property and homeowners who are uninsured or underinsured in the event of a
disaster. Based on a review of all the information available, including the results of the Preliminary
Damage Assessment, it was determined that the impact to individuals and households in the requested
counties (Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Franklin, Rockwall and Van Zandt) from this event was not of the
severity and magnitude to warrant the IA designation, as it did not meet their threshold of 800
properties that are uninsured or underinsured “and” fall into the category of major damage or totally
destroyed.
The governor’s office has 30 days to appeal the denial. We have also been informed that the offices of
Governor Abbott and Congressman Pete Sessions will indeed launch such an appeal. The City of
Rowlett will actively advocate for our citizens and support this appeal, providing any and all
information and assistance possible toward this effort. If the appeal is denied, a Small Business
Administration (SBA) declaration will be sought. Dallas and Rockwall counties alone are well above
the mandatory damage threshold so we are optimistic this declaration will be granted. The SBA offers
assistance not only to small businesses, but also to homeowners and renters in the form of low-interest
loans.
“We are very disappointed with this decision and we appreciate the efforts being made on our behalf
by Governor Abbott and Congressman Sessions,” says Rowlett Mayor Todd Gottel. “Although we will
remain hopeful, we are sharing this notification now because we also realize that current information is
essential to our citizens trying to recover from this disaster.”
As previously reported, the President did grant the request for Public Assistance (PA) on Tuesday,
February 9. This is very important to our community and citizens as PA is used to help cities and
counties recover a portion of the costs associated with a disaster, such as infrastructure repairs and
debris removal.

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