Disaster Declaration Issued for Houston County
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – As of Friday, April 3, Houston County will be under a Declaration of Disaster. County Judge Jim Lovell made the announcement on Thursday morning saying, “COVID-19 has spread in Texas, nationwide and worldwide.”
“In Texas,” he continued, “we now have 4,607 cases with 68 deaths (as of Thursday at 9 am). One thing that has been constant for us in Houston County is that we do not have any confirmed cases. That has given me a false sense of security because we know from what we’re hearing, it is coming. All of the counties around us, except Trinity County have it.”
On Friday, April 3, Trinity County reported its first confirmed case of the Coronavirus.
“That being said, I am going to issue a local state of disaster due to public health concerning COVID-19. It will go into effect on April 3 at 11:59 pm. That is the same time the governor’s order is going into effect,” the judge said.
Lovell indicated financial assistance from the Small Business Administration (SBA) is on the horizon and he wanted to make sure by issuing the declaration that Houston County businesses were covered.
“As most everyone knows we are the last county in the region to declare a state of emergency or put in place what is being called a stay-at-home order. We haven’t done that. This does both, but it is not titled as such. This mirrors what the governor said,” he said.
The order states: Be it ordered by the judge of Houston County, Texas that the citizens shall comply with this order of essential services and activities only.
“That’s what I’m calling it. It actually does not literally say stay-at-home. There is a list of essential services and activities that we still must do,” Lovell said.
The list of essential services can be found at www.tdem.texas.gov/essentialservices.
As far as any penalties for violating the order, the judge said, “The governor already took care of that. Pursuant to the governor of Texas’ order, residents shall limit travel to obtain or provide essential services.”
Currently, if a person is found to be in violation of Gov. Abbott’s order, he or she may be fined up to $1,000 and/or sent to jail for up to 180 days.
“There are a lot of essential services,” Lovell said. “I will give a list of some that are not. Some of these are: cosmetology salons; gyms; massage establishments; tattoo studios; piercing studios; and eating/drinking inside of bars/restaurants or food courts. Of course, the use of a drive-thru, pickup or delivery options for food and drinks is allowed and highly encouraged.”
The judge said the reason he had held out for so long before issuing the disaster declaration was because he wanted as many people in Houston County to work for as long as possible.
Lovell said he had recently spoken with State Senator Robert Nichols about the SBA assistance.
“The short version of it is businesses can apply and get through their banks a loan. If they keep their employees on and pay them for two and a half months, the loan becomes a grant and is forgivable. It can pay for rent and utilities as well,” he said.
The declaration – which may be found at www.co.houston.tx.us – is in effect until April 10 and will be continued (or ended) at the next meeting of the Houston County Commissioners Court.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
