Conroe - Montgomery Edition | April 2026

Built for the next storm From the cover

Two-minute impact

Precinct 2 emergency management building

For years, when west Montgomery County crews needed extra water, cots, blankets or other emergency supplies after a storm, the backup plan was simple but risky: go to Conroe and get it. Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said that worked when the west side of the county was smaller and easier to navigate. But after Hurricane Harvey, multiple winter storms, oods, tornadoes and a wildre—and with Precinct 2 now home to about 190,000 residents—he said the distance started to become a problem. “One of these days, we weren’t going to be able to get there,” Riley said. “And if we were to get there, it’d be four or ve days after the fact.” Now, Precinct 2 is nearly nished with a $1.4 million emergency management building on its county barn property—paid for by using American Rescue Plan Act funds—that Riley said should be online around May 1. The site includes an 8,000-square-foot building, a 2,300-square-foot canopy, a backup generator and room for emergency supplies such water, blankets and basic medical items. The building is not meant to change what happens while a storm is still hitting, Riley said. Crews still have to wait, assess damage, clear roads and respond to res or debris before opening the site to residents. But he said the goal is to have a base much closer to Magnolia-area communities instead of making repeated supply runs. That matters, he said, because Precinct 2 already knows where trouble usually starts. Spring Creek crossings are often among the rst to ood, and residents along roads such as Egypt Road can end up stuck until water drops. Riley said the new site

$1.4 million construction cost

8,000 sq. ft. building footprint

Equipment: basic medical supplies, water, cots, blankets, batteries, tools, associated gear items and a backup generator

1774

1488

NICHOLS SAWMILL RD.

50 sta members manning the building during disasters

UNITY PARK DR.

Pauline Road re

Disaster declarations in Montgomery County

COVID-19

Hurricane Beryl

There have been multiple disaster declarations in Montgomery County since 2005.

Porter Heights tornado

Hurricane Ike

Tropical Storm Imelda

Winter Storm Uri

Hurricane Harvey

2005

2010

2015

2020

2025

NOTE: THIS TIMELINE IS NOT COMPREHENSIVE.

SOURCES: MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY PRECINCT 2COMMUNITY IMPACT

include hurricanes Ike, Harvey and Beryl, Tropical Storm Imelda and the 2021 Winter Storm Uri. Riley said the building is ultimately about cutting out wasted time. “We’re already here, and it’s already here,” he said. “Everything’s here.”

gives those residents a more direct place to go once roads reopen and response work is underway. He also added that during natural disasters, about 50 sta members will man the emergency building. The need is backed by the county’s disaster history. Montgomery County’s past disaster declarations

What residents should know

Montgomery County emergency buildings

1 Precinct 2 emergency management building ( 10,300 sq. ft. ) 2 Precinct 4 emergency management building ( 10,300 sq. ft. ) 3 Main emergency management building ( 68,000 sq. ft. )

He said each smaller warehouse is designed to hold enough sheltering and point-of-distribution supplies for about 500 people, as well as give the county three stockpiles to pull from during a countywide event. In Precinct 4, Commissioner Matt Gray said the county also recently added a re-rated bulldozer that has already been used to help reghters clear debris and create re breaks during wildre response. He said the goal, like the new ware- houses, is to get response tools closer to where they may be needed. County ocials have also updated emergency management training this year, as previously reported by Community Impact, part of what Millsaps described as a larger eort to prepare for future disasters.

Precinct 2’s building is one piece of a broader county eort to spread emergency resources beyond Conroe. Jason Millsaps, executive director of Montgom- ery County’s Oce of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said identical supply warehouses are coming online in Precincts 2 and 4 to help reach areas that are harder to serve quickly from Conroe when roads are ooded or blocked by debris. “Instead of having it coming from Conroe and having to transfer [to] the county during either a hurricane, where trees are in blocking roadways [or] ood, where the roads are closed, we have stu in those areas that are harder for us to serve in an immediate situation from Conroe,” Millsaps said.

Willis

Montgomery

105

Conroe

1488

242

Magnolia

99 TOLL

249

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