Governor Abbott Issues State Disaster Declaration for El Paso County Flooding as UTEP Secures $1M Critical Minerals Mining Grant

Governor Greg Abbott Declares State Disaster for El Paso County Following Severe Flash Flooding

EL PASO, Texas — Mobilizing comprehensive state emergency resources for Far West Texas on October 29–30, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott officially issued a state disaster declaration for El Paso County following severe storms and prolonged flash flooding. Heavy localized downpours overwhelmed municipal drainage arroyos, depositing mud across major transit corridors and damaging residential structures in low-lying border colonias.

The declaration empowers the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to deploy high-water rescue equipment, road repair contractors, and emergency utility personnel, while residents were urged to document structural damage through the state's iSTAT reporting portal to support federal disaster assistance requests.

UTEP Wins $1 Million Department of Energy Prize to Relaunch State's Only Mining Engineering Degree

In higher education and national resource security, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) announced that it has been awarded a prestigious $1 million PROSPECT Planning Prize by the U.S. Department of Energy. The grant provides foundational funding for UTEP to officially relaunch its undergraduate degree program in mining engineering, with an inaugural class slated to matriculate in Fall 2027.

Upon relaunch, UTEP will house the only active mining engineering program in Texas, strategically focused on training an advanced domestic workforce to extract, refine, and sustainably manage critical minerals essential for clean-energy batteries and defense technologies.

Governor Abbott Rallies Early Voters at Historic Rosa's Cantina as Election Turnout Surges

On the political trail, Governor Abbott brought his statewide 'Let’s Roll' Get-Out-The-Vote tour to El Paso, addressing enthusiastic crowds at the legendary Rosa's Cantina. With county election officials reporting that early voter registrations have surpassed 541,000, campaign surrogates urged borderland residents to utilize extended early polling hours to cast ballots ahead of Friday's early-voting deadline.

Concurrently, federal immigration officials published final performance data for the multi-agency Lone Star Mission, highlighting the apprehension of high-ranking cartel human-smuggling operatives along the El Paso sector.