LIVE: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott talks about storm preps as TS Francine tracks toward Louisiana

for e e e e want listen I want to thank everybody for joining with us here today as the state of Texas and especially uh in East Texas uh we are uh letting everybody know how fully prepared we are for Francine whatever Francine May deliver I want to start out by thanking Mayor West for being here judge BR judge Gothia we have uh speaker felen representative Terry Leo Wilson and representative Christian Manuel with us also listen this this is something that all of us care about because there's one thing of Paramount importance and that's the safety of everybody in this region we all know that the current projected path of Fran looks like it's headed toward Louisiana we also know however that storms even in the recent past sometimes can deviate from what the prediction is so for one we're concerned about the possibility of the storm altering its course moving more towards Texas in which case the area that would be most likely challenged would be where we are right now in Jefferson County over in Orange County and in surrounding areas but even if the current track stays true in it frine goes directly into Louisiana there are still going to be enormous challenges in Jefferson and orange counties and in this area it's important for everybody to be prepared for a lot of rain could be some flash flooding taking place could be gathering water uh Upstream that comes Downstream to this region where we are right now that poses all kinds of challenges for people be careful when you're on the road obviously never drive into you may stall your vehicle out you could be swept away there's a simple saying that is always true and that is turn around don't drown another thing that is predicted for the uh North East part of the gulf or Southeast Texas is there should be some meaningful winds taking place could be 25 30 35 mph winds even on this side of the storm so again uh Texans in this area need to be prepared for those winds uh and and then of course uh another thing that goes along with the storm like this are rip tides uh if you go out into into the water into the ocean you cannot necessarily see those rip tides you could be caught up in them and lose your life that there's so many ways in which everybody in this region where your life could be in danger uh if if you don't take very simple precautions uh and make sure that you are staying safe one thing that we as a state are doing is we are deploying all of the resources is needed to make sure that everybody in Southeast Texas is going to have all the tools and resources they need to be able to respond to Francine uh for example the Texas uh division of emergency manage management has already deployed resources all the way from Brownsville to bont the National Guard uh they have uh a dedicated team right here in Bowmont of more than 30 National Guard with ADD IAL National Guard in backup in the event that their resources are needed uh we have uh search and rescue teams that actually have already been involved in rescuing people down in the Brownsville area and maybe in other areas also but but they will be here in the event that people get caught in a situation they cannot get out of without the assistance of a sergeant and Rescue Team uh we have every type of resource that's needed to to make sure that people of Southeast Texas are going to be able to weather the storm one thing however that that we count on at the state level is input from the local level as a result uh Chief kid and myself we remain in constant contact with local officials we have an ask about twice a day uh do you have any unmet needs and if there's any need whatsoever uh in Southeast Texas that need is going to be met by the state of Texas as we get through this storm the state of Texas has 24 State agencies that are actively responding to this storm right now let me add this maybe the most important participant in responding to this is going to be the power company yes we need to be able to weather the storm the the rain the wind but it's an imperative that your power stays on uh Chief kid and myself we we've been in constant contact with enty to make sure that they are fully prepared for the kind of storm that Texans should expect every single year this is not an unusual storm it's a storm that we are equipped and should be equipped to deal with that includes power companies being equipped to deal with the storm uh we just got reassurances from interg they are prepared prepared for this and in other regions of the State of Texas we have received similar reassurances that said is is one thing to say you're prepared is another to deliver on that preparation my expectation your expectation is that either no one will lose power or in the event that power lines get blown down by wind that that power is restored within hours not within days Texans should not have to go with that power for days on in in response to what should be a relatively uh minimal storm compared to some other types of storms that Texas has dealt with in the past bottom line Texas need to know that we're doing everything that needs to be done to be fully prepared for this from the state level from the local level to the power level now it's time for all of us to deliver next are we going to judge Bron well thank you Governor we appreciate you as always being here uh as you've been here during all of our prior natural natural disasters some of which have been very significant uh I for one am extremely appreciative of the State of Texas uh although not with the county at the time I was here during Hurricane Rita and after that while with the county with Humber gust Edward Ike Amela Harvey and I've noticed that over the last 20 years the state's taken a much more holistic approach to emergency preparation of reaction and uh you know they have such a great relationship and en forged relationships with all of the other state agencies and federal agencies that have expedited uh the the uh supply of needed assets uh the uh you know whether it's search and rescue or debris Assistance or housing recovery with the Glo or whatever the case may be we' uh seen a a much more integrated approach to those response efforts we've also in the past uh disasters had the state Advocate on our behalf to receive C Disaster Recovery money flood mitigation assistance monies and so as a result our drainage systems are much better off today than they were when we had Harvey our uh Fe wallet being improved because advocating with our federal counterparts for Under the Water Resources development act and so uh you know I can't say enough good about the partnership that we've had and the assistance yall provided uh and the communications that that we've enjoyed with the state and I I wanted deeply appreciative also want to say that U during barl and during other storms where we've had power outages eny Texas has uh brought to bear all the resources necessary for quick recovery and we did we have not experienced the types of episodes that Houston experienced bar with you know delays because of inadequate resources brought to be good to hear judge well same thing uh you know a judge branck always does a really good job of covering all the details and before I get to so uh but same thing I just appreciate you coming I appreciate what the state does you know I wasn't here as long as he has been I've only been in this position for five years and so I've I'm kind of catching some of the last recent changes that TM has done but I know it's a lot easier and a lot more efficient and effective for us to get stuff from one location we make one phone call and we get a lot of the resources that I think we used to have to chase down to get it uh having uh you know a speaker feeling as well Senator Nichols these folks we can call and talk to they always answer the phone I know sometimes they probably like not to but they do it it's a uh we have a a huge uh amount of resources that we have to our availability uh my Emergency Management coordinator Joel ardway does does a fantastic job we all coordinate together all the counties coordinate together in this region because it affects all of us and even if it doesn't hit us direct we want to help our neighbors and we all do that and so it's it's just important that we that we're able to do that now and that we're able to kind of keep that on track again to our neighbors in Louisiana we want to you know we wish them the best and our prayers are with them but uh we are prepared in Orange County we're prepared if something if this thing does make a change we know we're that we're ready to go uh energy again to everybody's point they have done a really good job in the past is with making sure we have quick recovery and we have very little power loss and if we do it's recovered very fast so we appreciate that uh our other agencies with Tex doot from teex doot Parks and Wildlife all the different AG Glo everybody coming in to help it's been a very good effort to it and then when we have events like this we have this that takes place and people get to know that we are prepared and we're ready to go in case this thing turns so but thank you got it good job mayor well Governor uh welcome to bont Texas we're uh it's a pleasure to have you here wish it was under different circumstances but we're grateful for the state we're grateful for all the state resources that are here and uh have been so helpful and certainly uh the city of Bulma we want to remind all our residents to be vigilant and pay attention to this storm it's still uh has a long ways to go and we want to make sure that we keep all our residents safe I know our our emergency Operation Center is stood up ready to go we're we're well prepared so are all our uh departments within the city and we'll certainly respond and meet the needs of all our residents but we do want to make sure we keep them well informed but and really appreciate the local and state Partnerships that we have you got it thank you Chief thank you governor and uh I want to thank the elected officials here at this table it is great communicating with them and knowing that you're on on the front line of taking care of your citizens as well uh Governor you mentioned 4 state agencies focused on this Mission that's over 1100 men and women traveling from outside of the area to support our state agency employees that are already here supporting our local partners and local governments please fire an EMS that are here so I just want to take a second to thank those 1100 men and women that are spending time away from their families away from their homes to be here to support Texans in time of need we've been in contact with our counterparts in Louisiana we are ready to offer assistance to them if needed but I need the media to help us get this message out this the public should not be lulled into a false sense of security that there will be no impacts to Southeast Texas we need to be ready if there are impacts you can see we have state agencies ready to support but nothing will protect a family more than a protected family taking care of themselves so please have a family communication plan take time to talk to your friends and family uh today this afternoon and make sure you have the resources that you need very good we'll take a few questions anyone all right well thank you go I was wondering what is this teaching us to be done for the future of our and obviously so listen this this is a drill that we go through uh to show how prepared we are regardless of the circumstances we take Serious every storm that could come upon our shore because of the devastation and even death that it can cause again we we focus first and foremost on sing lives we deploy all the assets that Chief kid was talking about to make sure that regardless of what's going to happen over the next 48 to 72 hours Texas and local governments will have all the resources we need to ensure that life is protected in every corner of our state then we want to make sure we do everything we can to protect property and to to keep power on and so we constantly work to improve what our response is learn from uh past storms take what we learned from those storms and implement it in response to storms like Francine is there anything from any other particular STS that you're using to prepare for your response for this so I'm I missed your first party question any is there any particulars using as a guidance of what for so listen we've gone back a long way one storm that was the biggest uh was Hurricane Harvey and what the state of Texas did we partnered with Texas A&M and Chancellor sharp uh and we literally wrote an entire book on it how to respond not just to storms like that but to respond to storms in the future so we take information like that that's assembl in the aftermath of a storm tur it into a notebook that is a guide going forward then we constantly work to implement that guide going forward making adjustments along the way as we learn more about better ways to respond let me just give you two easy examples one thing we we know that we want to minimize as much as possible is power outages there are two very effective tools that can easily be implemented that will reduce power outages one is uh vegetation removal uh that could impair power lines uh the other is to begin using composite poles as opposed to Wood poles or some other type of strategy that will be able to withstand wind even more so our power companies are implementing those uh newer Technologies and techniques to make sure that their customers will be far less likely to suffer from power outages you sure uh what resources have the state of Texas already sent to Louisiana nothing yet we we have not sent anything yet where in communication with them they know that the resources are available but Texas first job is taking care of Texans again I I don't want to be any of us L into a false sense of security that there will not be impacts in Texas once it makes landfall anything that we have that they need we'll offer support great thank you everyone the