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Flood sirens and a flood awareness campaign in the wake of last summer's deadly flooding were discussed by Bexar County commissioners at their Tuesday meeting.
Commissioners approved a resolution to seek a state grant to pay for the installation of sirens in flood prone areas of the county that were identified by the state.
Erin Cavazos, engineering manager for the San Antonio River Authority, told commissioners much more state funding will be needed to place sirens in all the flood prone areas that were identified.
But they could get started by focusing on some particular high-risk areas.
"The highest risk areas are where people are outdoors overnight, so we're looking at RV parks, campgrounds, overnight camps and that sort of thing, as the first phase," she said.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert urged the river authority to focus sirens in areas where recent flood deaths have occurred, such as in his precinct, and said he would like to work closely with the agency.
County Judge Peter Sakai questioned whether the river authority would follow input from commissioners.
"I'm going to be really blunt," he said. "(Is) each commissioner going to be calling you saying hey, 'I want this there. I want that neighborhood.' Or are we going to be relying on the engineering and the science with the limitations that we have?"
"I hope the court understands where I'm going with this," he added. "Otherwise, this thing can get much, much more expensive ... and it would be nice for the City of San Antonio to help."
Cavazos said the river authority would be led by the science on area flooding.
Cavazos also told commissioners of a flood awareness campaign to be launched in May. Research shows campaigns that warn a driver they could die traversing a flooded low-water crossing may not be as effective as you might think.
Cavazos said the upcoming "Floods Don't Care" bilingual ad campaign will focus more on damage to vehicles and the risk to the passengers around a driver.
"The first example would be on a gas pump saying, 'floods don't care about the size of your truck.' And then the second example I have is one of the billboards that (say) 'floods don't care who's in the car.'"
Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay Flores said the phrase "Floods don't care" does not translate well in Spanish. The river authority agreed and is working on an alternative slogan.
