SAN ANTONIO – Nearly two months after 13 people lost their lives in devastating flash floods near Loop 410 and Perrin Beitel, Bexar County officials are taking action they hope will prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Bexar County Commissioners Court unanimously approved funding for a new flood warning system, a joint effort with the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio River Authority. The initiative\u2014known as NextGen\u2014will use cutting-edge predictive technology, including rain gauges, sensors, and radar, to detect rising waters at low-water crossings across the region.<\/p>\n
We haven\u2019t forgotten the people who died on June 12,\u201d said County Judge Peter Sakai. \u201cEspecially here in Bexar County, we know we have to do more to protect lives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Smarter Flood Alerts, Faster Response<\/p>\n
The NextGen Flood Warning System is designed to revolutionize how officials respond to flash flooding. By integrating real-time data from dozens of flood-prone areas, emergency management teams will be able to issue alerts earlier, close roads faster, and redirect traffic before motorists encounter danger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could essentially take the decision out of the motorist\u2019s hands about whether they should even try or attempt to get over that low water crossing,\u201d said David Smith, Bexar County Manager.<\/p>\n
Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle echoed that urgency: \u201cThe River Authority laid out its vision for this next-generation warning system, and we agreed 100%\u2014this is the direction we need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
A $21 Million Investment in Public Safety<\/p>\n
The system is expected to cost $21 million and take two to three years to fully implement. Of that total, the San Antonio River Authority estimates $10 million will be needed to cover unincorporated and suburban areas, while another $11 million would fund installations inside San Antonio city limits.<\/p>\n
The city has not yet budgeted its share, but Coyle emphasized that funding gaps shouldn’t delay progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cCity taxpayers are county taxpayers,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t believe most folks care what color the money is\u2014they want us to solve this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Community Still Healing<\/p>\n
The June floods, which overwhelmed multiple neighborhoods, exposed serious gaps in local flood-response systems. Despite years of public education about flood risks, many low-water crossings lacked sufficient warning signs, barricades, or real-time alerts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThirteen people died\u2014mothers, fathers, children,\u201d said Destany Fuller, a local resident who attended Tuesday\u2019s meeting. \u201cThis is about doing right by them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The River Authority has not yet announced which crossings will be prioritized first, but officials say they will start with the most dangerous and heavily traveled flood-prone areas.<\/p>\n
As work begins, leaders are hoping NextGen won\u2019t just be a tech upgrade\u2014it\u2019ll be a life-saving tool for future storms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about weather data,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s about protecting people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO – Nearly two months after 13 people lost their lives in devastating flash floods near Loop…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":123588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,7288,23748,31295,76316,37051,76317,5292,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-123587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-bexar-county","10":"tag-emergency-management","11":"tag-flash-floods","12":"tag-flood-warning-system","13":"tag-nextgen","14":"tag-predictive-technology","15":"tag-public-safety","16":"tag-san-antonio","17":"tag-sanantonio","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-tx","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114981859796463415","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}