Abbott directs Texas Emergency Management to prepare for storms

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports Gov. Greg Abbott is directing the Texas Division of Emergency Management to prepare for additional state emergency response resources ahead of potential impacts from tropical activity in the Gulf of Mexico. This comes as CenterPoint Energy representatives announced they were monitoring and preparing for severe weather as a way to avoid widespread power outages such as those following Hurricane Beryl this summer. According to the National Weather Service, a storm system moving through the Gulf of Mexico has a 90% chance of tropical development, with increasing likelihood of development into a tropical storm or hurricane, as written in the release. According to Houston Chronicle’s meteorologist Justin Ballard, heavy rain could be expected in the Houston area, with the potential for localized flooding.

“Texas stands ready to provide all available resources needed to support Texans as a severe storm system begins to move along the Gulf Coast that will bring potential flash flooding threats and heavy rain,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement, noting the state’s division of emergency management would be deployed Monday morning. “Texans are urged to take the necessary precautions for potential tropical weather, including remaining weather aware, monitoring road conditions and having an emergency plan to ensure safety of themselves and their loved ones.” The Texas Division of Emergency Management has issued an activation notice to the Texas Emergency Management Council agencies, increasing readiness level of the Texas State Operations Center to a 24-hour escalated response operations, a news release stated. Additional resources include search and rescue boat teams, helicopters with hoist capabilities, medical support teams, saw crews, support for agriculture and livestock needs, and teams to monitor road conditions and outages. These resources come from several agencies including the state’s department of public safety, transportation, health services; Texas National Guard, Texas A&M, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Public Utility Commission of Texas, Railroad Commission of Texas and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.