Austin leaders give safety, preparation tips as severe weather season gets underway

Abigail Jones
·3 min read

AUSTIN (KXAN) — City of Austin and Travis County leaders gathered Monday afternoon to discuss preparedness for severe weather, flooding and flash flooding as the severe weather season is getting underway in Central Texas.

According to the First Warning Weather team, severe weather season in Central Texas runs from March 1 through early June. While severe weather can happen year-round, the spring months typically bring our highest concentration of wind, hail, tornadoes and flash flooding.

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Ken Snipes, Director of the City of Austin Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM), said climate change has made severe weather events more extreme and more unpredictable. He said the last few years have seen an increase in frequency and severity of weather events in Central Texas.

Snipes recalled a handful of severe weather and flooding events that have impacted the area in the last decade, namely the flooding of multiple creeks in Austin in October of 2013 that mostly impacted the Onion Creek area, which damaged around 745 homes and destroyed 116, and killed seven people.

He also mentioned flooding events in May of 2015, in which 14 people in Travis County and surrounding areas died, and flooding in October of the same year that damaged around 400 structures and left three Travis County residents dead.

Snipes also mentioned the tornado outbreak of March 2022, and a major hail storm in Sept. 2023, noting that the expenses from hail damage in Texas reached a record high of over $1 billion for the year.

Snipes encouraged residents to utilize the digital preparedness hub readycentraltexas.org to know how to prepare ahead of time for severe weather.

Other local emergency officials emphasized the importance of having a plan ahead of severe weather or flooding events as well, noting that people should check to see if they are in a flood risk area and check which roads around them are likely to flood quickly, then plan evacuation routes based on that information.

Other resources Central Texans can use include the hashtag #PrepareTravisCounty, which Travis County Emergency Services used to share information about emergency events, atxfloodsafety.com, and 311. The City of Austin also has an Emergency Information Hub online, where people can sign up for text alerts from the city.

The City of Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray noted that the department has established direct communication with over 2,000 homeless people in the city through a text system, and said the department regularly notifies those people to leave flood risk areas as needed.

Travis County Chief Emergency Management Coordinator Eric Carter said now is the time for residents to prepare their homes for severe weather by trimming branches and doing other yard maintenance and checking their home insurance.

Representatives from the following departments spoke on Monday afternoon:

  • City of Austin Homeland Security & Emergency Management Director Ken Snipes

  • Travis County Chief Emergency Management Coordinator Eric Carter

  • National Weather Service Meteorologist Paul Yura

  • Austin Watershed Protection Department Director Jorge Morales

  • Austin Fire Department Division Chief Eddie Martinez

  • Austin-Travis County EMS Commander Eric Gordon

  • Austin Police Department Commander Kurtis Krause

  • Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray

Watch the full press conference in the video player at the top of this article.

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