Texas renews disaster declaration for hurricane-affected counties

Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-21 11:50:03|Editor: Liangyu
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HOUSTON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. state of Texas on Friday renewed the State Disaster Declaration for 60 counties affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Governor Greg Abbott announced the renewal that covers all the counties mentioned in his previous disaster declaration, including Fort Bend, where Houston is located.

The disaster declaration was renewed as needed while recovery efforts are continuing in the state in the south central region of the United States.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday he decided to open an investigation into a number of debris removal companies which are blamed to be working across the battered southeast Texas rather slowly in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

"Debris removal companies may be overpromising and under-delivering," Paxton said. "Texans are working hard to clean up after Hurricane Harvey and these companies should do the same. They cannot sign contracts with local governments, and then change the price or not deliver services."

Harvey blew ashore on Aug. 25 as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and damaging some 200,000 houses in a path of destruction that stretched for more than 480 km. The Houston area suffered severe flooding after heavy rainfalls.

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