In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, which left over a million Southeast Texans without power, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is entangled in a political tug-of-war over disaster response and aid requests. Acting Governor Dan Patrick, who is currently serving in place of Gov. Greg Abbott while he is on a trip in Asia, has publicly claimed that Judge Hidalgo declined state assistance. "We're good," is what Patrick asserted Hidalgo responded when the state reached out to inquire about Harris County's needs, as reported by KHOU 11.
Nevertheless, Hidalgo devoted her attention to recovery efforts and refrained from engaging in the quarrel with Patrick. “Judge Hidalgo has been very clear that she has not spoken to the Lt. Governor. She and other leaders, across all levels of government have been focused on meeting the needs of our communities impacted by Hurricane Beryl and it is absurd that the County would decline any aid that would help our area recover more quickly. His ridiculous claim that she turned away help from the state is meant to feed a false narrative to get people riled up when we are already dealing with so much," said Hidalgo's spokesperson Angelica Luna Kaufman in a statement obtained by KHOU 11. Luna Kaufman called the notion that the county would refuse aid "absurd" and labeled Patrick's statement as intended to stir up false narratives amidst the devastation.
In a separate update, Hidalgo clarified the actual chronology of events and her communications with various agencies. She confirmed signing the disaster declaration before Hurricane Beryl's landfall, ensuring that paperwork was in order to expedite both state and federal assistance. According to a Houston Public Media interview, Hidalgo explained, "That's how we always do it. And that way it's ready to hand over to the state, to hand over to the Fed."
Adding another layer to the saga, Hidalgo mentioned during a News 88.7 recovery coverage special that President Joe Biden had expressed alarm over his initial inability to contact Abbott and Patrick for the necessary disaster declaration request. When speaking to Hidalgo, President Biden was advised to contact Patrick directly, to which Hidalgo recounted, “It feels a little silly to be talking about this right now, but I was on the phone with the President twice yesterday morning and he was reaching out, really alarmed that he was unable to reach the state leaders in order to get that request for disaster declaration,” she said. “… [Biden] was concerned about that, and I said, ‘Well, why don’t you give Dan Patrick a call directly?’ and so he did, and he called me back, and he said, ‘Yeah, he’s gonna sign it.'” according to the Houston Public Media team that she spoke to.
