KENS 5 is tracking the flood siren funding that local leaders in the Hill Country are still waiting on.
AUSTIN, Texas — Ingram City Councilman Ray Howard wants flood sirens installed for his community as soon as possible. He still remembers seeing people swept away in the horrible flooding on July 4 that killed more than 100 across Kerr County.
“We were just high enough that the water didn’t come to our neighborhood,” he said. “I saw a camper go by (in the river) with a whole family screaming for help. I saw a little kid screaming for help. I couldn’t do anything for them.”
Howard found a contractor that could build a siren warning system for their city, and Ingram City Council quickly got behind the effort. On Aug. 18, the council voted to move forward with that contractor and start looking for funding.
At the same time, state leaders have already said that they would require flood warning sirens along the Guadalupe River and provide funding to build them.
So where is that funding?
Currently, the main bill that would pay for flood warning systems is Senate Bill 5. That bill passed the Texas Senate on Monday, but the Texas House of Representatives wanted a version with different funding amounts. On Friday, the Senate requested a conference committee so both sides could iron it out.
Another bill, SB 3, would establish the grant program that would distribute the funding so cities and counties could use it. That bill also passed the Senate on Monday, but is awaiting a vote on the House floor.
SB 5 has a clause stating it could go into effect as soon as Sept. 1, 2025, but there is no guarantee the Texas Legislature will have passed the bills at that point.
Howard told KENS 5 that Ingram is willing to wait a few extra weeks to get the funding. But not months.
“We want to get this up and running. We don’t want to wait until next year,” Howard said. “If we had the money right now we could have this operational in seven weeks.”
The siren system would cost the City of Ingram around $170,000.