DALLAS — Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed a disaster declaration for 23 counties impacted by Monday’s severe flooding, including Dallas County, as the region recovers from what’s been called a “one-in-a-thousand-years” event that flooded roads, submerged cars and left at least one person dead.
But even while North Texas has been clobbered in recent years by extremes in heat, cold, rain, fire and tornadoes, the governor refused to mention the words “climate change,” even when specifically asked by a reporter, while declaring a weather disaster in the region — at least the seventh such declared in Texas this year.
“We have constant conversation about what we categorize as extreme weather,” Abbott said, while acknowledging that “we are dealing with more extreme weather patterns.” But the governor ignored requests from Spectrum News 1′s Brett Shipp to acknowledge climate change.
