DPS Sets Up Mobile Driver’s License Unit for Tornado Victims

Like most tornado victims in Garland, Latonya Johnson's life is in pieces. Her home was destroyed, and with it, her family's vital records.

"We lost everything, from IDs to birth certificates. We have no form of ID whatsoever," Johnson said.

Johnson was one of more than a dozen people to stop by the Texas Department of Public Safety's Driver's License Disaster Response Unit on Friday. DPS staffers helped her track down proof of residency and were able to give her an official Texas state ID.

"The paperwork you have showing your identity, it makes you feel as though you're going in the right direction," Johnson said.

While an ID may seem insignificant when someone's lost their entire home, city of Garland spokeswoman Beth Dattomo said receiving potential individual assistance from the federal government will require victims to show ID.

"Depending on what happens with the recovery process, as we go forward (victims) will need some kind of identification," she said. "We are not asking for residency information, but just some type of identifying information that they lived in that area. (FEMA) will want something that identifies them with a picture."

The DPS service is only available to storm victims. The only way they can look up a victim's information is if they have a current ID, which means they are currently in the DPS system, or their ID has been expired for less than two years.