Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said state lawmakers returning to Austin for a pre-planned special session later this month will consider responses to disastrous flooding that claimed more than 100 lives in Central Texas over the weekend.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing alongside emergency responders, Abbott said lawmakers needed to consider a variety of possible options, and that future warning and alert systems that work in one area might not be suitable for other parts of the state.
“We have a special session coming up. And the way to respond to what happened in Kerrville is going to be a topic for the special session to address,” Abbott said. “The reality also is this: what’s needed in that river basin and that location could be far different from what’s needed in some other river basin across the state.”
Sudden storms in Central Texas developed Friday night, causing the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet in less than an hour, state officials said. Flash floods swept through the region, carrying away motorists, recreational campers and girls at a local Christian summer camp.
At least 87 people were reported dead in Kerr County, northwest of San Antonio. Travis County and Kendall County each reported seven dead. At least five campers and a counselor from the summer camp are still missing.
Texas has deployed more than 1,700 personnel from more than 20 state agencies to respond to the flooding, state officials said. Abbott said the state had begun strategically locating emergency equipment near the region on Wednesday, two days before the storm hit.
“The state had prepositioned assets and resources in and around that area beginning on Wednesday, before the storm on Friday,” he said.
But state officials acknowledged that they did not anticipate the amount of rain that would fall on the region. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said Friday the National Weather Service did not predict how much rain would fall.
It wasn’t immediately clear what response measures legislators will consider when they reconvene in Austin later this month. Abbott initially called the special session after vetoing legislation relating to the regulation and sale of products that contain THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. State law gives Abbott the authority to expand the mandate legislators have when they enter special session.
At least one bill meant to improve disaster responses in small counties died in the Texas legislature earlier this year. The bill would have created an Interoperability Council to develop and coordinate emergency response and infrastructure. It would have given grants to local governments to purchase emergency communications equipment.
The National Weather Service issued several flash flood warnings and watches late on Thursday, hours before the torrential rain arrived. The agency declared a flash flood emergency at 4:15 a.m., as the river began to rise. The part of Kerrville impacted did not appear to have alarms to warn residents of an impending flood.
Abbott thanked President Trump for issuing emergency declarations. He said he had fielded calls offering assistance from both Republican and Democratic governors, naming the governors of Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
He said the danger had not yet passed, and he urged residents to use caution when venturing out.
“Rising water on roads can occur very rapidly,” Abbott said. “We urge everybody to be extraordinarily cautious for the next 24 to 48 hours.”