'Goal is to save lives': Senate passes slate of flood bills

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Nearly six weeks after historic floods killed at least 108 people in Kerr County, including 37 children, the Texas Senate passed several key bills Tuesday aimed at preventing that kind of death toll the next time a major storm strikes.

"It will save lives today and it didn't cost a dime to do it," said Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding, adding if these policies are implemented and followed "odds are you would have no fatalities."

The three flood-related bills voted out of the Senate address warning sirens, camp evacuations, leadership, training and overall preparedness. They're the result of weeks of work done by joint House and Senate committees tasked with responding to the July 4 Hill Country floods. That work included hearing 26 hours of testimony from more than 80 witnesses, Perry said, including a special hearing in Kerrville last month to directly hear from local leaders and residents.

"You gotta know what you're gonna do before you need to do it and you're gonna be trained to do it, you're gonna be drilled on ... it and there's not gonna be 'Who's on first, who's on third?' conversations because everybody's going to have their roles and there's a succession in case you were one that got wiped out," said Perry.

There was "clearly" a "lack of leadership" in Kerr County where "no one really was in charge" and multiple opportunities to mitigate harm were missed, said Perry.

Under Senate Bill 1, youth camps located in 100-year floodplains would be required to have emergency rooftop access for their cabins and develop emergency evacuation plans. Those plans would need to be carried out when a flash flood warning is issued, with camp owners moving everyone to higher ground.

"Period. You don't get an option," said Perry. "So, if you're in the 100-year floodplain, and you're responsible for people, then basically you gotta take heed. you have a responsibility at that point to shelter [to] higher ground."

The bill also requires licenses for emergency management coordinators, training for county judges, sheriffs and mayors, annual emergency drills supervised by the Texas Division of Emergency Management, establishes chain-of-command during disasters and a database of volunteers who have cleared background checks.

"There was nobody taking the lead [in Kerr County] so that's gone under SB 1," said Perry. "You don't have an option. You're going to have to have a a leader, somebody in charge, so that when TDEM shows up, or other help, you know who to go to, who's coordinating and where everybody's at."

Lawmakers also discussed purchasing new early warning radars that could be in place within a year at a cost of up to $30 million.

"If we can get better at [predicting] where these rain bombs are, maybe Mother Nature will humble us less," said Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham.

Senate Bill 2, which was also voted out, would require outdoor warning sirens in flood-prone areas and establishes a grant program to help local governments pay to install, maintain and operate them. The bill was introduced by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who previously told KXAN that this old technology could be effective in saving lives.

"You want to try to get as many chances to get the public’s attention that trouble is on the way,” he told us three days after the catastrophic floods.

At the special hearing in Kerrville, Bettencourt questioned the president of the Upper Guadalupe River Authority about its lack of sirens.

"You said the wall of water was moving at 17 mph and the camps were seven miles downstream. By my simple Aggie math, that's 24 minutes to act and use sirens to get people to higher ground," Bettencourt said. "Now, if we had an integrated river gauge and siren system, as you were already looking at one, do you want to change your response on whether you think a river alert system could have saved lives in this flood?"

"Yes sir," UGRA President, Dr. William Rector, a medical doctor appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, said. "There's no question that could save lives."

Under SB 1, as we previously reported, the UGRA would be subject to a limited Sunset review in 2027. At the July 31 hearing in Kerrville, Rector told lawmakers flood sirens were never installed — and its eight property-tax funded river gauges aren’t locally monitored — with data instead collected by the National Weather Service.

Initial estimates by the Lower Colorado River Authority project it will cost $50 million to install sirens in priority zones, Bettencourt said.

His bill also requires the Texas Water Development Board to identify areas with a history of severe flooding.

"Testimony after testimony confirms flood warning sirens are proven, effective and can save lives immediately by getting folks to higher ground," Bettencourt said in a statement after the vote.

Central Texas will also get needed relief money to help pay for the response and recovery efforts. Under Senate Bill 3, $200 million will supplement Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, funds; $50 million will be allocated for the purchase of sirens, rain gauges and other equipment in the Central Texas flood region; $24 million to develop enhanced weather forecast systems and $20 million for a new swift water training facility.

"Our goal," Kolkhorst added, "is to save lives."

In a statement after Tuesday's votes, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, R-Texas, praised the comprehensive slate of bills that now head to the Texas House.

"This bipartisan package is a crucial step in helping communities recover from last month's devastating events," Patrick said, "and in reducing the risk to human life in future disasters."