Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) ordered the activation of the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and state emergency response resources ahead of expected severe weather conditions from April 2 through Tuesday, according to a recent press release. 

As mentioned in the release, the National Weather Services predicted severe storms in the northern Texas area, including North, Central and East Texas. The extreme weather was expected to bring hail, harsh winds, tornadoes, heavy rain and flash flooding, with elevated-to-critical fire weather anticipated in West and Northwest Texas until the middle of the week.

"North, Central and East Texans should prepare for severe storms to make their way through local communities today through Tuesday," Abbott said. "With these storms having the potential to bring large hail, strong winds, flash flooding and tornadoes, Texans should remain weather-aware, heed the guidance of their local officials, and have a plan set in place for themselves and their loved ones in case of an emergency. The State of Texas is ready to assist any calls for local assistance, and I thank all of our emergency management teams and personnel across the state who are protecting their fellow Texans this Holy Week."

Abbott directed TDEM to increase the readiness level of the State Emergency Operations Center to Level II (Escalated Response) to meet any requests for assistance from local officials, the press release said. TDEM also has activated the following state resources to support severe weather response operations: Texas Task Force 2, Texas Emergency Medical Task Force, Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Texas Department of State Health Services and Texas Department of Public Safety. 

In addition, TDEM prepared the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1) for urban search and rescue teams. The aforementioned resources had been mobilized in addition to the state wildfire response resources deployed by TDEM in the prior week.