Texas lawmakers discuss how they plan to respond to deadly Central Texas flooding in the upcoming special session
State lawmakers tell CBS News Texas they are ready to get to work following what could become the deadliest flood in Texas history. Governor Greg Abbott has placed four items on the agenda for the upcoming special session, which begins July 21. Legislators say they not only have to address the urgent needs facing Central Texas right now, but they are also looking at how and why so many people were in harm's way. They also want to focus on long-term solutions.
As for the immediate needs, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has said he wants the state to put up outdoor warning sirens along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, where so many people lost their lives. County officials there have said they didn't have the money for the early warning system.
In separate interviews for Eye On Politics, Republican State Senator Paul Bettencourt of Houston and Democratic State Representative Joe Moody of El Paso said they agree with the Lt. Governor that the state can pay for that and get this early warning system in place by next summer. Senator Bettencourt said he's already working on legislation very much focused on those sirens for this and other areas.
"I started working with my team after he gave that announcement to look at, trying to combine old tech with new tech because part of the problem that you see and these type of flash floods is that this phone is so overloaded now with alerts of banking, alerts, security alerts, amber alerts, silver alerts, whatever that people have a tendency to run the alerts off. I thought of civil defense sirens, which have been a staple in tornado alley for decades. So, what my bill is going to look at is combining what is old tech, which would be the sirens with the new tech effectively the announcements through cell phones on digital media," he said.
Representative Moody said the state has the resources right now to put those outdoor warning sirens in place.
"We also have a flood plan across the State of Texas. So, if there are other areas that would be susceptible to this type of tragedy, then we need to be thinking about that right now. And I think that's something that's a conversation that we all need to be engaged in and involved in. But I think this is something that we need to think about in a broader way because there are tragedies that can be visited upon any one of our communities in a myriad of ways. There are similarities to some of the failures we've seen in the past. That's the work we have ahead of us, not just in the special session, but going forward, is making sure that communities have the resources they need to prepare for whatever may come next," he said.
The special session lasts for 30 days.
