Governor Greg Abbott today directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to increase the readiness level of the Texas State Emergency Operations Center (SOC) to Level II (Escalated Response) in support of the state’s response to flooding impacting communities across Texas. At the direction of Governor Abbott, TDEM also activated five additional Texas A&M Task Force 1 swiftwater boat squads and a floodwater boat squad to support local response efforts. Texans are encouraged to report damage to homes and businesses using the Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) damage survey at damage.tdem.texas.gov.