SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor on Tuesday asked Gov. Greg Abbott's office to declare San Antonio a disaster area in the wake of four tornadoes that left a trail of destruction.
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Taylor said at a news conference that if the declaration is approved, residents and business would be eligible for grants and low-interest loans from the state for rebuilding purposes.
The mayor said she surveyed Districts 1 and 10, which were most affected by the Sunday night's tornadoes.
Taylor said she talked with homeowners, who expressed gratitude for the quick response from the fire and police departments, city and CPS Energy crews.
She said 311 is still receiving a lot of calls for assistance.
Taylor said affected residents need to know that "they are not alone."
"We are here to help," Taylor said.
City manager Sheryl Sculley said about 300 city employees have responded to relief efforts in the field.
Crews have hauled off about 2,600 cubic yards of debris, which will be recycled. Crews removed about 100 downed trees, she said.
Sculley said residents should pile their brush in one area and debris in another pile in front of their homes for crews to pick up.
She said about 4,000 homes were affected and about 100 were heavily damaged by the tornadoes.
Crews are working to replace traffic signals and street signs, Sculley said.
CPS Energy chief customer engagement officer Felicia Ethridge said about 84,000 customers were without service at the peak of the outage.
Ethridge said about 750 customers were still without power Tuesday. She said crews hope to have power restored to those customers by midnight.
She said about 200 employees and 100 contractors have helped restore service.
Crews have replaced 59 utility poles, 140 transformers and responded to 150 incidents of downed wires.
The CPS Energy Call Center handled 48,000 calls, Ethridge said.
Residents who are still without power are asked to call 210-353-4357.
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