AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas legislative special session officially started on Monday.
The session was originally intended to address bills that did not become law during the regular session, including a THC ban that Governor Greg Abbott vetoed, property tax bills, redistricting and the STAAR test.
However, after the devastating and deadly July 4 floods in the Hill Country, emergency response became the priority.
Abbott assembled a joint committee of legislators to take on legislation regarding the floods.
KSAT was on the House floor at the state capitol on Monday when the session opened, but it only lasted five to 10 minutes.
Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows adjourned until Thursday because committees, such as the disaster preparedness and flooding committee, will not meet until Wednesday.
KSAT sat down with state Sen. Pete Flores, the vice chair of the new joint committee, as well as state Rep. Wes Virdell. Virdell, who is also on the committee, lives in Kerr County.
Both lawmakers talked about priorities for their committee this special session.
‘We can always do better’
Flores is no stranger to natural disasters. He was a State and Colonel Game Warden.
“The state responded very quickly with our TDEM (Texas Department of Emergency Management) as some of the best first responders in the world,” Flores said. “The calamities that hit us, it’s a well-honed machine, but we can always do better.”
Eight of the 13 counties Flores represents were hit by floods, so he said he’s prepared to listen to responders this week and Hill Country locals next week.
“There’s folks out there — I’m sure there are — that have the answer to a lot of these questions,“ Flores said. ”And all we have to do is listen."
One topic that may be up for discussion is the possible implementation of flood sirens.
“I think we need to look at the baseline of how it works in terms of communications,” Flores said. “‘What is effective communication in what part of the state? What technologies exist?’ In terms of the equipment, to be able to provide our citizens with more warning, with better forecasting, with better communication, everything we want to look at.”
Flores said he is aware technology requires installation, upkeep, and testing, which amounts to a big chunk of money.
“I think we need to do what is necessary to ensure that the people of Texas are safe and that we do everything that we can to be able to work with our communities to ensure they have what they need,” Flores said.
He said he will push for more seamless communication for first responders.
“There’s practice, there’s drills, there is that communication from a local level all the way to a national level that has to mesh,” Flores said. “It can’t be in silos.”
‘You don’t want to waste it’
Virdell has spent a lot of time with first responders since the flood started.
He not only represents the district where the Hill Country falls, but Virdell also lives outside of Kerrville.
He said he has a more personal connection than other legislators on the committee.
“You don’t want to waste it,” Virdell said. “You don’t wanna screw up, so I owe it to the community to do all my due diligence, to learn everything I can about this.”
He has already started gathering information and ideas.
To all the residents who live along the Guadalupe River, Virdell said there is one obvious priority.
“Mainly cell phone service,” Virdell said. “Down in that area, there’s almost no cell phone services. And so, it was hard the morning of the 4th, trying to communicate with the camps and with residents. Like, there was almost no communication.”
Virdell said he had a two-hour conversation with someone who works at Space X about a potential device people could choose to have in their homes.
“Basically having a warning system with what we call a float switch that would indicate when water comes up to a certain height, the float switch is activated and it would communicate with Starlink, you know, and this is all off of one single tower,” Virdell said.
As for sirens, Virdell worries loud sirens may not reach everyone in rural areas of his district.
“But it may have its place near camp RV parks and all that. Maybe that would make sense for people more likely to hear it,” Virdell said.
During the disaster, the state representative said communication within the first responder realm was subpar — specifically between responders from different counties.
“One of the things that came up was none of their radios were working,” Virdell said. “And I won’t say the name of the radio, but it had a touch screen on it and they couldn’t communicate with each other while they’re out there on the river, which is a pretty glaring — a pretty obvious problem. And so, coming up with a better way.”
The other issue Virdell acknowledged is how residents find emergency information online.
“You have to go to multiple websites to get a picture of what’s actually going on,” Virdell said. “And, if there’s a way to bring it all into one resource that that a local official could look at and see everything, that would make a lot more sense.”
These things could come with hefty price tags.
“I am. Whatever is necessary,” Virdell said. “One is what’s the proper role of using taxpayer money in society, and I think emergency preparedness is an avenue that we could use that in.”
While he has these ideas going into the special session, Virdell said he is waiting to hear from responders on Wednesday, and Hill Country locals next Thursday.
Those comments, he said, will shape his overall opinions on how to keep his multi-county district safe.
More recent coverage of the Hill Country Floods on KSAT: