San Jacinto Flood-Planning Group Inventories Readiness in Region
9/30/2026 – As part of the next update of the Texas State Flood Plan, the San Jacinto Regional Flood-Planning Group (SJRFPG) recently inventoried gaps in the the readiness of governmental entities to cope with the next major disaster. They also identified ways to help reduce flood damage.
At the group’s most recent meeting in September, they reviewed two items of interest to everyone in the region:
- A draft of Chapter 7 in their plan which covers gaps in:
- Flood preparedness, response and recovery capabilities for all governmental entities in the region (local communities, counties, state agencies and federal agencies)
- County Hazard Mitigation Plans
- Evacuation routes
- Flood warning Systems
- Emergency Operations Centers
- Recovery operations
2. Four pages of Legislative, Regulatory and Administrative Recommendations to reduce flood damage.
I’ll summarize the gaps today and recommendations tomorrow.
Flood-Preparedness and -Response Gaps
The documents contain some eyebrow-raising information in concise, easy-to-read tables and text. For instance, when reviewing flood preparedness and the immediate response after a flood:
- Galveston, Montgomery and San Jacinto Counties have no publicly listed links to their Hazard Mitigation Plans, even though they have the plans themselves.
- Of the 11 counties in the region:
- Only Brazoria had a publicly available emergency action plan
- Eight have flood-gauge websites where the public can monitor river/bayou levels
- No county publicly identified flood-preparation teams, suggesting that such programs may be managed internally by emergency management departments without public documentation.
- Liberty County has no Emergency Operations Center.
- All counties provide emergency road closure information, but most don’t have dedicated websites for that purpose.
- The availability of high-water-rescue resources was described as only “moderately high.”
- No counties maintained publicly available lists of flood shelters.
- Comprehensive information regarding the number and location of resource distribution centers, emergency supplies and shelter capacities is not publicly available.
Flood-Recovery Gaps
FEMA defines flood recovery as actions taken after a flood necessary to return to pre-flood conditions. It includes activities such as:
- Damage Assessment
- Debris Removal
- Housing Solutions
- Clothing Distribution Locations
- First Aid
- Buyouts
- Disaster Event Records
In the San Jacinto Region, data available for flood recovery was considerably more limited than for preparedness and response.
- No county in the San Jacinto River Basin offered publicly facing information identifying flood-damage assessment teams.
- Five of the 11 counties offer publicly available information on the cost of debris removal, procurement records and awarded contracts – usually for federally funded recovery activities.
- Only Brazoria, Harris and Fort Bend Counties offered housing rehab info.
- No county offered a publicly available database for aid distribution, which is often handled through disaster relief agencies such as the Red Cross.
- Buyouts reduce the threat of repetitive flood losses, but due to the sensitivity of such programs, public information is limited. That limits the ability to assess the extent and success of such programs across the state.
- All counties maintain disaster event records. They usually live on the county website of within Hazard Mitigation Plans.
Get Involved
The SJRFPG sees “a significant gap in centralized and transparent reporting of recovery resources.” That makes comprehensive regional recover assessments challenging.” That gaps do not necessarily indicated a lack of capability, but rather reflect limitations in publicly accessible documentation. And that could affect your family’s safety.
Community input remains a critical component in shaping a more resilient future for the San Jacinto region. However, the group no longer offers the ability to attend its meetings online due to recurring technical problems. So monitor their website closely for upcoming meetings/locations/agendas.
- Next Meeting: November 10, 2026, 9AM – 11AM at United Way, 50 Waugh Drive, Houston, TX 77007
- Meeting details and materials: sanjacintofloodplanning.org/meetings/
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/30/2026
3319 Days since Harvey
