Texas should buy warning sirens for counties in flash flood zones by next summer to better alert residents so they can get to safety, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said on Fox News on Monday.
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 during the Fourth of July weekend.
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.
Local first responders and government officials said they expect the number of confirmed dead to increase in the coming days as search and rescue teams comb the banks of the Guadalupe River.
What stood out to him and Abbott about the disaster, Patrick said, were news reports with officials saying residents didn性视界传媒檛 have emergency sirens because the counties couldn性视界传媒檛 afford them. Alerts went out to phones in the middle of the night, and many people didn性视界传媒檛 hear them, Patrick said.
性视界传媒淭he state needs to step up and pay for these,性视界传媒 Patrick said, adding that the Texas Senate would be 性视界传媒渁ll in性视界传媒 on such an idea. 性视界传媒淗ad we had sirens along this area, the same type of sirens that they have in Israel when there性视界传媒檚 an attack coming, that would have blown very loudly, it性视界传媒檚 possible that that would have saved some of these lives.性视界传媒
A spokesman for Abbott did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Patrick性视界传媒檚 remarks.
It was not immediately clear how much it would cost to provide the sirens or how many counties would need them.
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 性视界传媒渢his is kind of flash flood alley,性视界传媒 Patrick said.
性视界传媒淲e can fix this moving forward. Whatever the problem was, why they didn性视界传媒檛 have them, we性视界传媒檙e moving on. We性视界传媒檙e going to get them here, and I agree with the governor 性视界传媒 we性视界传媒檒l fund them from the state, because we just shouldn性视界传媒檛 have this happen,性视界传媒 he said.
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 性视界传媒 as up to 30% of Texans do with the alerts that light up their cell phones, according to a recent federal study.
性视界传媒淭oday性视界传媒檚 cellphones are overloaded with alerts,性视界传媒 Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Republican, said in a statement on X on Monday. 性视界传媒淧eople aren性视界传媒檛 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.性视界传媒
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.
性视界传媒淭he way to respond to what happened in Kerrville is going to be a topic for the special session to address,性视界传媒 Abbott said.
Abbott said there would be discussions about how children性视界传媒檚 camps along the state性视界传媒檚 rivers prepare for and respond to flood alerts and dangerous conditions.
性视界传媒淭he 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,性视界传媒 Abbott said. 性视界传媒淎nd we need to evaluate what they know, how they respond, what they need.性视界传媒
Lawmakers could also establish an interim study and select committees, hold hearings or add funding to the state budget.
Policy-wise, Abbott suggested a one-size-fits-all approach to anything related to flooding could be problematic, given the diversity of the state性视界传媒檚 vast terrain.
性视界传媒淭hat性视界传媒檚 why it性视界传媒檚 going to be good to have a session with all members working together that would bring different perspectives,性视界传媒 he said. 性视界传媒淲hat性视界传媒檚 needed in that river basin, in that location, could be far different than what性视界传媒檚 needed in some other river basin across the state.性视界传媒
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.
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.
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.
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.
Flood infrastructure and multi-purpose 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性视界传媒檚 water supply.
Twenty percent of that funding must go toward water conservation and flood mitigation, according to legislation lawmakers passed in conjunction with the amendment.
During this year性视界传媒檚 legislative session, 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.
Stephen Aranyi, spokesman for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, said the bill failed because the estimated timeline of five to 10 years would have resulted in an outdated plan 性视界传媒渄ue to advances in technology.性视界传媒
Even if it had passed, the bill would have gone into effect in September and would not have impacted the way residents along the Guadalupe River were affected by the July 4 floods.
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.
性视界传媒淭here性视界传媒檚 a lot of comment going on, and that性视界传媒檒l be for another day, over how the alerts went out,性视界传媒 Patrick said. 性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 going to take time, obviously, to look back and do a total analysis of everything that happened.性视界传媒
