Disaster Declared in Van Zandt County, Hit With Severe Weather

AUSTIN (AP/STAFF) — Governor Greg Abbott has declared a state of disaster in Van Zandt County and six other Texas counties hit in recent days by severe weather that’s included tornadoes, thunderstorms and heavy rains that brought flooding. Also on the list are Bosque, Clay, Denton, Eastland, Gaines and Montague counties. The declaration authorizes further mobilization of state resources to assist impacted communities. Severe weather moving through Texas over the last several days has included a tornado that killed at least two people in the East Texas town of Van on Sunday night. A tornado that hit the town of Cisco west of Fort Worth on Saturday night killed at least one person. The declaration follows an elevated activation of the Texas State Operations Center to enable rapid deployment of state resources.