SB2 would give a state agency the ability to tell counties to build siren systems. It would also create a new fund to pay for those systems.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick have already said there needs to be a siren warning system in Kerr County by next summer to prevent another catastrophic flood from again taking lives. The July Fourth flood killed 117 people in Kerr County alone.
SB2 is the bill that would make that happen.
SB 2 would require counties to build the kind of siren systems state leaders want to see and create a funding source to quickly pay for those systems. The bill was already listed as one of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s priorities for this special session.
On Friday, a senate committee passed it and sent it to the Texas Senate floor with a recommendation.
The current version of the bill would give power to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to “require the appropriate municipality or county to install, maintain, and operate one or more outdoor warning sirens.”
The TWDB would only be able to do this after determining that an area “has a history of consistent or severe flooding.” The board would consider several factors including “previous loss of human life to flooding” in the area and “the potential damage to real or personal property” in the area.
While the decision to make counties install a flood warning system would not be made lightly, there would also not be an appeal process. The bill states, “The board ’s determinations under this section on whether an area requires an outdoor warning siren are final and binding.”
If a county or city already had an acceptable siren system in place, they would not be required to change it.
Author Senator Paul Bettencourt told KENS 5 he hopes to see the grant program for the bill be set up quickly so counties can take action.
“They’ll (the TWDB) be able to say you have to do it here, and here is the money to do it effectively. There will be a combination of what to do and the money to do it,” Bettencourt said.
Some residents, and some previous leaders in Kerr County, may have been opposed to siren systems in the past. Bettencourt spoke to the Kerr County judge, sheriff, and Emergency Management Coordinator in the July 31 and believes they are now in agreement about siren waning systems.
EMC William Thomas told Bettencourt “we definitely need it.”
Kerr County Mayor Joe Herring specifically said that he wanted the state’s help to put in a flood warning system.
“My main purpose today is to join Lt. Gov. Patrick in calling for a flood warning system to be designed and installed in Kerr County before next summer,” Herring Jr. said.
Bettencourt also spoke to Upper Guadalupe River Authority President Bill Rector about sirens during that hearing and Rector said “there is no question that that could save lives.”
The current version of SB2 would require the governor’s office to establish and administer the grant program that would pay for the siren warning systems. Bettencourt said he hopes the governor’s influence will move the projects forward in a timely manner.
“Having the governor’s office be involved in it is not doing anything except keep the accelerator pedal down on making sure the projects get done as quickly as possible,” Bettencourt said.
Still, even if SB2 sees support in the Texas Senate, the bill won’t be able to go to the house until Texas democrats return to the state. Bettencourt hopes to see the Senate pass the bill this week and see the Texas House of Representatives back in business soon after.