State
BY HANNAH NORTON
New Texas laws aim to protect campers, residents from future floods
Also of note
Abbott signed into law $278 million in state flood relief funding Sept. 18. This includes the $50 million in grants for flood warning sirens.
On Sept. 5, two months after the historic July 4 weekend flooding killed at least 137 people in Central Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott signed three new laws that he said will “make youth camps safer” and ensure communities are better prepared for future disasters. Under the two-pronged camp safety package, which includes Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1, summer camps are required to remove existing cabins from floodplains by Jan. 1. Camps that do not do so will not be eligible to be licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services and therefore cannot continue operating, according to SB 1. Camps must also develop and annually update comprehensive emergency plans, set up warning systems to notify campers if something is wrong, and install ladders so campers can climb on cabin roofs during floods. Abbott also signed Senate Bill 3, which requires
flash flood-prone communities that were impacted by the July 4-5 floods to install flood warning sirens with the help of $50 million in state grants. Rules for their installation will be developed by the Texas Water Development board. After Abbott signed the laws Sept. 5, he told Community Impact that the state will ensure flood-prone communities in Central Texas are better prepared to host campers and visitors next summer. “If an event like this does occur again, those warning systems will go off in a way that will
During special legislative sessions this summer, state lawmakers considered two other flood-related measures, which did not become law:
A plan to establish a state interoperability council to improve communication among first responders
A sweeping bill that would have created licensing requirements for local emergency managers and expanded mass fatality training for justices of the peace
do everything possible to protect lives,” Abbott said. All three laws took effect immediately Sept. 5.
SOURCE: TEXAS LEGISLATURE ONLINE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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Put in perspective
Frequent floods
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The families of 25 campers and two counselors who died at Camp Mystic in Kerr County attended the Sept. 5 event. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick requested that portraits of Chloe Childress and Katherine Ferruzo, the two 18-year-old counselors who died saving their campers’ lives, be displayed in the Texas House and Senate. “[They are] true Texas heroes that can go down and should go down with the great names of Texas history,” Patrick said Sept. 5.
A large stretch of Central Texas is known as “flash flood alley” due to its unique geography and weather patterns that make it susceptible to intense flooding.
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Flash flood alley
Colorado River
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The Guadalupe River basin has been deemed “one of the three most dangerous regions” in the nation for flash flooding.
1 Austin 2 Brady 3 Dallas 4 Kerrville
5 San Antonio 6 San Marcos 7 Uvalde 8 Waco
Guadalupe River
MAP NOT TO SCALE N
SOURCES: ACCUWEATHER, GUADALUPE-BLANCO RIVER AUTHORITY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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