KERRVILLE, Texas – Lance Parisher, a Fourth of July flood survivor, was one of six people who spoke at the Upper Guadalupe River Authority board meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 27. Parisher described the night of the flood while he was at a family home in Ingram.
“The house was lifted off the foundation with us in it,” Parisher said. “We survived an unsurvivable event, but in that, I lost my 20-month-old son, Clay Parisher.”
Parisher continued by advocating for better flood warning systems to prevent a tragedy like what happened to his family, and so many others, from ever happening again.
Since the flood, the City of Ingram has approved a new flood warning system for its section of the river. Ingram City Councilman Ray Howard, who led the effort, also spoke at the UGRA.
“I’ve been an advocate from that morning, after watching people die in my front yard, to get a system put in,” Howard said.
The Upper Guadalupe River Authority is now working on establishing a joint task force with multiple representatives.
“One from UGRA, one from the county, one from the City of Kerrville, one from the City of Ingram,” said William Rector, UGRA’s board president.
This comes just one month after UGRA’s Tara Buschnoe was grilled at the Texas Capitol about the agency’s lack of improvements to its flood security system.
KSAT asked Buschnoe for an update after what happened during the hearing at the Texas State Capitol, referring to the lack of upgrading their flood security system because they did not receive a grant. Buschnoe told KSAT that it would not happen again.
“We’re moving forward with surplus funds,” Buschnoe said.
Moving forward, Rector hopes to have a seamless flood warning system across the entire Guadalupe River county.
“We would like to have sirens that all are by the same manufacturer that all can be repaired by the same repair crew,” Rector said.