SB 5 includes $50 million to help cities and counties pay for siren systems and flood gauges.
AUSTIN, Texas — The State of Texas is now officially providing nearly $300,000 to help pay for disaster relief and flood warning siren systems.
Governor Abbott signed SB 5 Thursday morning, which he announced with a quick social media video.
“I’m about to sign a law that provides almost 300 million dollars more to help all of our fellow Texans recover from the devastating floods that took place earlier this summer. That’s on top of more than 200 million dollars that Texas has already spent,” Abbott said. “We will continue to work every day to help our fellow Texans recover from those devastating floods.”
The bill includes $50 million for a program within the Governor’s office to help cities and counties establish flood warning sirens and flood gauges along the Guadalupe river and other locations prone to flooding.
According to SB 3, which Abbott previously signed, the Governor’s office is supposed to create a grant program, or work with another agency to create a program, that will disperse those funds provided by SB 5. KENS 5 has contacted the Governor’s Office multiple times about this grant program but the office was not able to provide any timeline for getting it done.
“The Governor’s office will likely work with an agency to swiftly implement the grant program,” spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said.
The bill includes another $200 million intended to match federal money received by cities and counties for disaster response, relief, and recovery. The bill analysis states it will cover “the projected 25 percent non-federal matching funds for FEMA reimbursement.”
The bill will also include $24 million to develop enhanced atmospheric modeling techniques and $20 million for a swift water training facility.
Finally, it will provide just over $5 million to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to pay for expenses related to new campground safety legislation.