Texas should buy warning sirens for counties in flash flood zones by next summer to better alert residents so they can get to safety when catastrophes hit in the middle of the night while residents are asleep, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said on Fox News on Monday. <\/p>\n
Patrick said he met with Gov. Greg Abbott earlier in the day to talk about the catastrophic floods that killed at least 79 people in the Texas Hill Country over the Fourth of July weekend. <\/p>\n
Among them were at least 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River. Ten children and one counselor are still unaccounted for, officials said.<\/p>\n
Local first responders and government officials said they expect the number of confirmed dead to grow in the coming days as search and rescue teams comb the banks of the Guadalupe River.<\/p>\n
Breaking News<\/p>\n
What stood out to him and Abbott about the disaster, Patrick said, were news reports with officials saying residents didn\u2019t have emergency sirens because the counties couldn\u2019t afford them. Alerts went out to phones in the middle of the night and many people didn\u2019t hear them, Patrick said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state needs to step up and pay for these,\u201d Patrick said, adding that the Texas Senate would be \u201call in\u201d on such an idea. \u201cHad we had sirens along this area, the same type of sirens that they have in Israel when there\u2019s an attack coming, that would have blown very loudly, it\u2019s possible that that would have saved some of these lives.\u201d <\/p>\n
A spokesman for Abbott declined to comment on the conversation but said the governor looks forward to addressing the issues during the special session.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear how much it would cost to provide the sirens or how many counties would need them.<\/p>\n
Residents and regular summer campers may be familiar with risks of staying in the area during flood season, but those regions get tourists every summer who may not even be aware that \u201cthis is kind of flash flood alley,\u201d Patrick said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can fix this moving forward. Whatever the problem was, why they didn\u2019t have them, we\u2019re moving on. We\u2019re going to get them here, and I agree with the governor \u2013 we\u2019ll fund them from the state, because we just shouldn\u2019t have this happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A Houston senator, whose district is also prone to flash floods from the bayous throughout Harris County, vowed Monday to file legislation that would authorize the use of Cold War-era emergency civil defense sirens that people cannot turn off, ignore, or opt out of \u2013 as up to 30% of Texans do with the alerts that light up their cell phones, according to a recent federal study.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s cellphones are overloaded with alerts,\u201d Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Republican, said in a statement on X on Monday. \u201cPeople aren\u2019t ignoring warnings on purpose. There are simply too many in a day, and they are turning off their phones at night. In times of natural disaster, we must have a safeguard to ensure this kind of emergency is not ignored.\u201d <\/p>\n
Abbott seems likely to add the issue to the agenda, telling reporters in Austin on Sunday that legislators would have the opportunity at that point to discuss what, if anything, they could do policy-wise in response to the floods. He stopped short of confirming his plans. Abbott could add new items to the agenda at any point before or during the session.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way to respond to what happened in Kerrville is going to be a topic for the special session to address,\u201d Abbott said.<\/p>\n
Abbott said there would be discussions about how children\u2019s camps along the state\u2019s rivers prepare for and respond to flood alerts and dangerous conditions. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe camps go back 100 years, and they are familiar with the water in the area, probably better than anybody else, and they have their own ways in which to deal with warnings that would involve children, sometimes as young as eight or nine years old,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cAnd we need to evaluate what they know, how they respond, what they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawmakers could also establish an interim study and select committees, hold hearings or add funding to the state budget. <\/p>\n
In response to devastating wildfires that claimed lives and property in the Texas Panhandle last year, lawmakers during their most recent legislative session directed more than half a billion dollars toward disaster response for the next two years and billions more over the next two decades on flood-prevention projects.<\/p>\n
The disaster-response dollars in the 2026-27 state budget will go toward setting up regional response centers, outfitting rural counties with ambulances and volunteer fire department resources, purchasing drones and aircraft. <\/p>\n
Some $257 million goes to the Texas A&M Forest Service for disaster response aircraft, which can be used for many types of disasters, including floods. <\/p>\n
Another $90 million will provide ambulances to rural Texas counties, and $65 million will pay for emergency response drone technology for the Texas A&M University System. Lawmakers also approved $135 million for regional disaster operations facilities to be run by the Texas Division of Emergency Management. <\/p>\n
Flood infrastructure and multipurpose flood prevention projects will get up to $200 million per year from the Texas Water Fund if voters approve a constitutional amendment in November. HJR 7 would earmark $1 billion per year for the next 20 years to address water issues, including the state\u2019s water supply. <\/p>\n
Twenty percent of that funding must go toward water conservation and flood mitigation, according to legislation lawmakers passed in conjunction with the amendment.<\/p>\n
An attempt to establish a grant program for emergency response systems for counties fell short. House Bill 13, by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, would have funded a new interoperability council appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott at a cost of up $3.5 million per year through 2030 to establish a statewide emergency response plan. The bill did not include funding for disaster response, and grants were for counties to establish plans, not to pay for any equipment. <\/p>\n
The recent floods in Texas have highlighted the need for better warning systems and disaster response measures. The state government is taking steps to address these issues, including providing funding for warning sirens and flood infrastructure projects. However, more needs to be done to ensure that residents are prepared and safe in the event of a natural disaster.<\/p>\n
Patrick told Fox News on Monday that lawmakers will need to assess what happened in the floods, the timeline of the alerts, and how prepared those areas are.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of comment going on, and that\u2019ll be for another day, over how the alerts went out,\u201d Patrick said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take time, obviously, to look back and do a total analysis of everything that happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
A: Catastrophic floods killed at least 79 people, including 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River.<\/p>\n
A: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is proposing that the state buy warning sirens for counties in flash flood zones, and a Houston senator is proposing legislation to authorize the use of Cold War-era emergency civil defense sirens.<\/p>\n
A: Lawmakers have directed more than half a billion dollars toward disaster response for the next two years and billions more over the next two decades on flood-prevention projects.<\/p>\n
A: The Texas Water Fund will provide up to $200 million per year for flood infrastructure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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