‘There really is no early warning system’: Rep. Darby urges action after deadly floods hit Concho Valley, Hill Country

BIG COUNTRY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – As floodwaters devastated parts of the Hill Country and Concho Valley over the Fourth of July weekend, State Representative Drew Darby is urging state leaders to strengthen Texas’s emergency response systems.

Speaking at a press conference at San Angelo City Hall on Monday, July 7, Darby addressed the community’s heartbreak and highlighted the legislative gaps exposed by the recent flooding. He announced that he has sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott, asking him to consider expanding House Bill 13 during the upcoming special session.

“House Bill 13 is a bill that basically grew out of a series of natural disasters, including the wildfires and the Panhandle that burned over a million acres. There is no real early warning system, and a way to notify affected people about an impending disaster,” Darby explained.

While the bill passed the House by a vote of 129 to 18, it never received a hearing in the Senate. Now, Governor Abbott has included disaster response improvements at the top of the list for the special session.

Darby emphasized that the bill would create an interoperability council, designed to align emergency communication systems across law enforcement and first responders statewide.

“Our law enforcement agencies sometimes don’t have the platforms to communicate directly with one another, but they have to go around roundabout way of doing that,” Darby shared. “This council would have created the opportunity to coordinate all that, and could raise grant money and provide state money to fund some of these systems, including these alert systems that could have been deployed in the Valley and certainly in the Hill Country region recently.”

Had such systems been in place before the Fourth of July, Darby believes they could have significantly improved early warnings and emergency coordination.

“We just need to make sure, from the state standpoint, that they have the resources and equipment they need to provide those services in times of need. That’s kind of the responsibility of the state to make sure that our local law enforcement first responders are on the same communication platform. They’re able to communicate directly in real time with one another. They don’t have to relay a message to a dispatcher, and then that dispatcher relays it to another dispatcher on another platform and delays the response,” Darby said. “I think this is an opportunity we can we can find out what’s happening throughout the state with our first responders and make sure we’re all communicating in the same manner, in real time.”

Darby shared a personal story from the Frio River Canyon, where he and his family were staying during the flooding. Thanks to a timely alert from a local DPS officer, they were able to prepare for a sudden 10-foot rise in the river.

“I received a text message from the local DPS officer that an eight-foot rise was happening at the top of the canyon, and it would be my direction in two and a half hours. Sure enough, it occurred. It was actually a 10-foot rise and and it came about two hours later. So that was effective. And of course, we notified folks downstream, and everybody was prepared. There was no loss of life on the Frio River with this rise,” Darby recalled. “When you look at what happened in the Guadalupe Valley with Camp Mystic. We were following that in real time, we had friends, San Angelo residents had children there, and we had friends there, some of whom lost their lives. So we were able to view in real time the damage that was happening. It’s unprecedented. We’re all aware of the dangers of living close to a river. ”

Darby also encouraged Texans affected by flooding to report damage through the State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) Damage Surveys and Public State of Texas Assessment Tool (pSTAT).

“I took a tour and saw the devastation… If you’ve had damage, please note that it’s important that we work together to accumulate the data necessary to determine the size and extent of the damage from that flood. Everyone has a role. If you had damage, no matter how minimal, if you would please go online to register the damage,” Darby asked.

He ended his remarks with a message of unity and resilience:

“I would just urge our community to stay together. That’s what makes us strong and resilient, our ability to work together through these obstacles.”