Remembering past floods, Austin City Council pushes for more preventative measures [Austin American-Statesman]

Austin American-Statesman (TX)

This month in the Austin area marks eight years since the Halloween floods of 2013 and six years since the Halloween floods of 2015. Combined, those two disasters locally destroyed more than 100 homes, damaged more than 1,000 others and triggered higher insurance premiums on renters and homeowners.

Concerned that area residents might not be fully prepared for another big storm, city leaders are taking additional mitigation steps.

On Thursday, Austin City Council members voted to direct the city manager to do a number of things to prepare the city for future storms. The vote, which passed unanimously, happened to come the morning after a heavy rainstorm that led to a flash flood warning in parts of the area.

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In addition to adding a memorial in the Onion Creek Metropolitan Park, the council, by approving the resolution, agreed to move forward with identifying funding opportunities to increase flood protection and to provide education to residents for emergency preparedness. Also, the city's federal legislative agenda will be amended to pursue financial support that could make flood insurance more affordable.

In laying out her proposal, Council Member Vanessa Fuentes read aloud the names of 10 people who died in the 2013 and 2015 storms. She also mentioned the deaths of two men who were not identified.

Fuentes lives in and represents Southeast Austin in Council District 2, home to much of the flooding. Four other council members co-sponsored her resolution.

"There's still so much work to be done in this area in our effort to protect lives and the environment," Fuentes said.

After the 2013 storm, the city and Travis County came up with a list of 173 proactive measures should another such storm occur. By the time of the 2015 storm, 97% of them had been completed, according to an after-action report. Taking those steps likely saved lives, the city's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said at the time.

After the floods, a feasibility study recommended buying out 138 homes because they are in a dangerous location along the upper part of Onion Creek. As of July, the city had purchased all but 10, acquiring them at a combined $71 million in local funding for the purpose of demolition. An additional 10 homes were to become isolated by the buyout of neighboring homes. The city has purchased two of those.

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In a lower area of Onion Creek, the city has spent $144 million in local and federal money on buyouts since 1999.

After the 2015 flood, then-President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in Texas for Travis County and 14 other counties. The combined individual assistance requested by residents in those counties was nearly $40 million.

Under Fuentes' plan, available funding will go toward resolving code compliance issues, addressing damage caused by flooding, and toward such home upgrades as floodproofing and the installation of gutters. She referenced general obligation bonds as a way of paying for it.

This is the second time Fuentes authored a flood resilience plan this year. Responding to concerns she said she heard in campaigning for the job, Fuentes, after joining the council in January, came out with part one.

Like the latest version, it directed the manager's office to come up with funding strategies to assist those affected by floods. It also requested a concise plan for flood mitigation.

In supporting Thursday's plan, Council Member Sabino "Pio" Renteria said he's concerned about higher insurance costs for renters and homeowners. Renteria, whose district abuts Fuentes' district in East Austin, said about 34,000 homes are in a flood plain.

"It's going to be very expensive and painful," he said.

The 2013 flood led to insured losses to residential and commercial property in an amount topping $30 million. That figure, released at the time by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covered 584 affected homes and businesses in Travis, Hays and Caldwell counties. It did not include automobiles lost in the flood or uninsured losses.