It鈥檚 been less than three weeks since Texas鈥� devastating July 4 floods which led to more than 130 deaths. In the aftermath of the disaster, Gov. Greg Abbott said he鈥檇 put flood-related items at the top of the Texas Legislature鈥檚 packed special session agenda.
The Texas House and Senate quickly established special committees to focus on relief efforts and determine what preparations the state must make to be better prepared for future natural disasters.
Now, these panels of state lawmakers will meet for the first time. Legislators on the Select Committees on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding are expected to convene Wednesday morning to hear testimony from emergency management officials, weather forecasters, the Texas Water Development Board and other experts.
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, is carrying a bill this special session focused on how to get a flood early warning system in place across Texas. He told The Texas Newsroom that he鈥檚 spoken with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and believes they鈥檙e on the same page as Gov. Greg Abbot 鈥� especially when it comes to taking the burden off funding such a system off local entities.
鈥淟et's just get money, get a solution, get it to them,鈥� Bettencourt said in a Tuesday interview.
Bettencourt, who added he doesn鈥檛 yet know all the solutions available, said he believes simply adding sirens along the state鈥檚 rivers won鈥檛 be enough.
鈥淵ou got to look at gauges. You have to look at cell communications,鈥� Bettencourt said. "If you're down in a river valley, you may not be able to get the alerts.鈥�
Bettencourt said one of the special committees鈥� first steps will be to find the best strategies to pursue and determine how to implement them all across the state. He used the Lower Colorado River Authority as an example.
鈥淭hey've got gauges everywhere,鈥� said Bettencourt. 鈥淲e've got places where the river authorities have done good work. We just need to say 鈥極kay, this is best practice and replicate them.鈥欌��
