Bexar County will get up to $1.25 million from the state to install sirens to warn people to evacuate flood-prone areas during flash floods.
The county will roll out the sirens over the next year-and-a-half after state lawmakers opened up funding for counties at risk of flooding to install warning sirens.
County commissioners approved the state funding for sirens on Tuesday.
They will mostly go near areas where people are outdoors overnight, such as RV parks and campgrounds, said Erin Cavazos, the engineering manager for the San Antonio River Authority. SARA, which manages the San Antonio River basin, is in charge of implementing Bexar County’s new flood warning system.
The sirens are a new addition to the package of upgrades, which are in response to deadly flash floods last summer in San Antonio and the Hill Country.
Cavazos said the county will place sirens downstream so people hear them before the water gets there and have time to get out.
“Our water rises so fast, that would give people enough time to move,” she said.
The Texas Water Development Board is administering the state’s grant program.
The flood warning system was the only major capital project that commissioners approved in an otherwise tight budget.
Sirens weren’t initially going to be a part of the new flood warning system, said Derek Boese, SARA’s general manager. But, after state lawmakers required sirens in some flood-prone areas and opened up grant funds for counties to install them, the river authority made them part of the project.
Like the gates that will shut when the river authority’s model predicts dangerously high water levels, the sirens will also be triggered by the model. The grant will pay for as many as 10 sirens, Cavazos said.
A city-funded study dissecting the Beitel Creek flood found that an array of factors contributed to the severity of the flood, including that models to assess the flood risk didn’t take into account dense vegetation on that stretch of the creek. Experts point to other factors, including extensive development on the Northeast Side, which sent more rainfall flowing over concrete.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Justin Rodriguez suggested commissioners talk about long-term improvements to infrastructure to help handle flooding in addition to how to keep people off flooding roads.
Along with the sirens and gates, the river authority will roll out a campaign to spread awareness about the risks of flash floods, with billboards saying things like “Floods don’t care about the size of your truck.”