The city of [[Kennedale, Texas|Kennedale]] was one of the first to declare itself a disaster area on April 3, 2012, just a few hours after one of the first tornados to hit the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area struck their town. Kennedale made the disaster declaration official on April 4, 2012.<ref name=star-telegram1>{{cite news|title=Press Release:KENNEDALE - DECLARATION OF DISASTER. CLEANUP UNDERWAY|url=http://media.star-telegram.com/smedia/2012/04/04/15/44/BVr4m.So.58.pdf|accessdate=6 April 2012|newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]|date=4 April 2012|last1=Cirmo|first1=Amethyst}}</ref> Both Mayor Bryan Lankhorst of Kennedale and Mayor Robert Cluck of Arlington signed disaster declarations for their cities.<ref name=star-telegram2>{{cite news|title=Arlington/Kennedale tornado traveled 4.6 miles, weather service says|url=http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/04/3859835/more-than-400-arlington-homes.html|accessdate=6 April 2012|newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]|date=4 April 2012|last1=Schrock|first1=Susan|last2=Vaughn|first2=Chris}}</ref> These declarations paved the way for Texas Governor Rick Perry to declare Dallas, Kaufman, and Tarrant counties disaster areas on Thursday, April 5, 2012.<ref name=kxan1>{{cite interview|title=Disaster declaration for 3 counties|url=http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/disaster-declaration-for-3-counties|accessdate=5 April 2012|publisher=[[LIN Television of Texas]]|callsign=[[KXAN]]|city=[[Austin, Texas]]|date=5 April 2012}}</ref>