Latest news with #NicoleWilson
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Petition demands new storm warning system in flood-ravaged Texas Hill Country
Nearly 40,000 people have signed a petition "urgently" calling for officials to create an early warning siren system for the flood-ravaged Texas hill country. The petition, created by Nicole Wilson of San Antonio, demands that modern outdoor emergency sirens be installed in hard-hit Kerr County to provide warnings for floods, tornadoes, and other life-threatening emergencies. "The tragic events at Camp Mystic and the devastating flooding along the Guadalupe River that happened in July are stark reminders that severe weather can strike with little notice," Wilson wrote on July 5. "A well-placed siren system will provide critical extra minutes for families, schools, camps, businesses, and visitors to seek shelter and evacuate when needed. "This is not just a wish ‒ it is a necessary investment in public safety," added Wilson, 42, an Army veteran and married mother of three. The petition comes as the death toll from the floods has risen to at least 120, while search and rescue teams and volunteers desperately scour for bodies. Ninety-six of those killed in Texas were in Kerr County in central Texas. More than 160 people remain missing, authorities said. At least 27 of the deaths were children and counselors at Camp Mystic, a beloved girls' Christian camp situated along the river. Wilson said she "strongly believes" that if there had been audible siren warnings at the camp, it could've given camp counselors and campers ‒ who had little notice when the flash flooding began ‒ enough time to possibly evacuate. "I personally have no doubt that even with an extra five minutes, those counselors would've seen the scenario and taken themselves to higher ground," Wilson, who served as a Sergeant First Class in the Army and specialized in military intelligence, told USA TODAY on July 9. "I strongly believe more lives would've been saved." Seeking hope: Search teams scour for more than 160 still missing in Texas flooding: Live updates Flood warning systems typically use a variety of resources ranging from advanced weather forecasting and real-time data collection to alert officials and the public about the potential for flooding, according to Alex Tardy, a former longtime warning coordination meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These systems usually involve monitoring rainfall, water levels, and stream flow through sensors inside and out of the water and automated reporting to a central station, Tardy said. When certain thresholds are met, for example, if rain, flood, or river waters are rising, a series of alerts can be issued through sirens, depending on location, and text messages, added Tardy, who runs Weather Echo, a San Diego-based weather and climate data consulting company. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for Kerrville County in the early hours of July 4, but people at the camp may not have gotten the warnings in time. "In a perfect world, you have a local warning system where officials can use any methods, including sirens, to notify their residents," Tardy said. How to properly warn residents, camps and parks along the Guadalupe River of potential flooding and other disasters has been debated for years, Wilson said. Initially seeking 1,000 signatures for her petition, Wilson said it is past time that Kerr County, part of a region nicknamed "Flash Flood Alley," receives an updated flood warning system. And she believes the state or federal government "absolutely" should be able to fund it. "We are not taking 'no' as an option any longer," Wilson said. "There are no more excuses." Nearly a decade ago, Kerr County asked for $1 million to build a flood warning system that would have upgraded 20 water gauge systems, added new water level sensors and posts, and created software and a website to distribute the information to the public in real-time. But records indicate that the Texas Division of Emergency Management repeatedly denied the county's request. Kerr County has long used software called CodeRed to notify residents about floods, fires and other emergencies via cell phone. In 2020, county leaders voted to expand CodeRed by integrating it with a FEMA system, which enabled it to alert people passing through the area, even if they didn't have the local CodeRed app. Clinging to rafters: How staff at all-boys camp in Texas saved hundreds from floodwaters The expansion, however, did not include the upgraded gauges, new sensors or the public website the county had requested. The upcoming repairs and funeral costs should serve as haunting reminders that funding for a better early warning system isn't optional, Wilson said. She believes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will find a way through state funding. And if not, Wilson hopes President Donald Trump, who plans to visit the area on July 11, will provide funding for a new siren system. Wilson said she plans to testify during a special legislative session in Austin later this month, hoping to use her petition as a catalyst for an early warning siren system. "Anything short of it is unacceptable," Wilson said. 'The loss of future life is too important because of this region's long history of flooding." Contributing: Kenny Jacoby and Rick Jervis, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Petition demands new early warning siren system in Texas Hill Country
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New ICE pact could have Florida jail staff driving immigrants to Alligator Alcatraz
ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County jail staff could be directed — at county expense — to haul immigration detainees to 'Alligator Alcatraz' or other detention facilities used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement if county commissioners approve an amended pact with the agency. 'I'm gonna fight it,' said commissioner Nicole Wilson, who cast one of the board's two no votes March 26 against the original Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) with ICE to hold agency detainees from around Florida at the county jail. To date, jail staff has not been enlisted to move detainees, corrections spokesperson Tracy Zampaglione said. 'Orange County Corrections does not transport inmates, ICE does,' she said in an email. 'Orange County Corrections Department has not — nor do we transport inmates released to ICE custody.' But the one-page addendum on the commission's Tuesday agenda could change that. If adopted by the board, the codicil would authorize county correctional officers trained in ICE procedures to transport immigration detainees at the immigration agency's request. A Florida law passed earlier this year requires all jails in the state to cooperate with ICE. Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad, the other no vote on the first ICE pact, also opposed adding to jail staff's work load. 'I don't agree with requiring our correction officers to do more work than what they're paid for and to do work they may not agree with or to do the bidding of a state government that's over-reaching,' she said Wednesday. 'We have immense public pressure to do what is right.' It is not known how many other counties in Florida or elsewhere are facing similar requests. The Miami Herald reported Wednesday that Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava quietly signed a similar updated agreement with ICE in June, unbeknownst to community members. That agreement appears identical to the one being considered in Orange County, giving any correctional staff trained through the previous agreement the ability to transport detainees upon ICE's request. But Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings, who signed the original agreement, so far has declined to sign the addendum, according to a memo to the county commission. The Orlando Sentinel asked Demings' spokesperson for comment but had not received a response by late Wednesday afternoon. Under Orange County's existing IGSA, the county jail serves as one of a handful of facilities across the state that houses federal inmates. That means people arrested on immigration charges beyond the county's borders – in some cases 100 miles from Orange County – are booked and housed into the jail until they can be transferred to an ICE facility. That agreement has come under fire in part because the county is only reimbursed $88 per day an inmate is held, while it costs about $145 to detain someone. The new transport clause adds a deeper wrinkle. Commissioner Wilson objected particularly to the federal government's failure to fully reimburse the county for the cost of holding ICE detainees. 'I don't understand why there's this expectation to everyone that we just goose-step right in line,' she said. She said she was concerned the county would be complicit in shipping detainees swiftly without due process to 'what are probably very inhumane conditions' at places like Alligator Alcatraz, the hastily erected detention compound for ICE detainees in the Everglades. 'And we don't know what happens to them after that,' she said. Approving the amended agreement with ICE would be a huge disservice to the county's immigrant population, Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, executive director of Apopka's Hope CommUnity Center, said. 'We are a community that was built on the vitality of immigrants and immigration,' he said. 'To see our county officials turn their backs to our community values [and] to align themselves with a deportation machine, it is not only a step in the wrong direction, it's against what we stand for as a community.' A law passed during the state legislature's special session in February requires Florida jails to cooperate with ICE, but Sousa-Lazaballet argued it does not force the county to accept the agency's new terms. Other community leaders aren't so confident. Jose Rodriguez, an Orlando Episcopalian priest, said commissioners are under pressure and face possible removal from office if they don't cooperate with state and federal authorities. 'I have elected these commissioners, I've elected to represent me and represent my voice.' Rodriguez said. 'However, if they represent the wrong voice, they'll get removed from office.' He cited previous threats from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to remove city council members and commissioners from their appointed roles if they don't comply with ICE. Most recently, Uthmeier posted a letter to X where he said he would remove Key West city commissioners from office if they didn't reinstate their voided agreement with ICE. Commissioners voted to re-implement the agreement on Tuesday. Instead, Rodriguez calls on Orange County's commissioners to go down 'kicking and screaming,' by letting their community know what they really think of the agreement — even if ultimately they must approve it. 'I think the most powerful thing that each commissioner could do is speak their mind about how they're being forced — if they feel like they're being forced,' he said. 'They better put an asterisk on that.' -------------
Hamilton Spectator
10-07-2025
- Climate
- Hamilton Spectator
A decade of missed opportunities: Texas couldn't find $1M for flood warning system near camps
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July. The agencies repeatedly failed to secure roughly $1 million for a project to better protect the county's 50,000 residents and thousands of youth campers and tourists who spend time along the Guadalupe River in an area known as 'flash-flood alley.' The plan, which would have installed flood monitoring equipment near Camp Mystic, cost about as much as the county spends on courthouse security every two years, or 1.5% of its annual budget. Meanwhile, other communities had moved ahead with sirens and warning systems of their own. In nearby Comfort, a long, flat-three minute warning sound signifying flood danger helped evacuate the town of 2,000 people as practiced. Previous floods provided warnings A deadly 2015 Memorial Day flood in Kerr County rekindled debate over whether to install a flood monitoring system and sirens to alert the public to evacuate when the river rose to dangerous levels. Some officials, cognizant of a 1987 flood that killed eight people on a church camp bus, thought it was finally time. But the idea soon ran into opposition. Some residents and elected officials opposed the installation of sirens, citing the cost and noise that they feared would result from repeated alarms. County commissioners sought compromise. They moved forward with a plan for a warning system without sirens, which would improve flood monitoring with a series of sensors but leave it up to local authorities to alert the public. They didn't want to pay for it on their own but found little help elsewhere. The county's largest city, Kerrville, declined to participate in a joint grant application that would have required a $50,000 contribution. The state's emergency management agency twice passed over the county's request for hazard mitigation funding, citing a deficiency in the application and then backing communities ravaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The state's flood infrastructure fund later offered an interest-free loan for the project — but that plan was seen as too stingy and turned down by the agency in charge of managing the watershed. A failure to act Without the flood monitoring system, the county was left vulnerable when rains pounded the area in the early morning hours of July 4 and the river rapidly rose. 'There wasn't enough fight in them, and there needs to be more fight this time,' said Nicole Wilson, a San Antonio mother who pulled her daughters out of an area camp ahead of the flooding and who launched an online petition calling on Kerr County to install the sirens. 'Whether it's a combination of city, state and federal funding, there simply can't be the answer of 'no' this time.' Local authorities and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have urged the public not to point fingers after the flooding, which killed at least 120 people and left scores more reported missing. 'I would be willing to talk about it but not yet. It's just too raw right now,' said Glenn Andrew, a former Kerrville city council member who voted in 2017 to pull the city out of the grant proposal for the project. 'My preference is to look forward to the future.' A spokesperson for Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that lawmakers, who begin a special session later this month, would approve funding to cover such projects in the future. 'The state will provide emergency warning sirens where needed,' Patrick spokesperson Steven Aranyi wrote in an email. But some anger is starting to boil over. Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, Texas, in Kerr County, said Wednesday it's 'unfathomable' that county officials never took action despite repeatedly talking about it. 'That's just mind-boggling,' he said. 'It's unfathomable that they never worked on it. If it comes down to funding, they're constantly raising taxes on us for other stuff. This is more important. This is lives. This is families. This is heartbreaking.' Howard, who lives in a home along the Guadalupe River, said any action now would come too late for those who have died . Another chance ended in diverted funds Kerr County requested a flood warning system grant in 2016 through the Texas Division of Emergency Management's hazard mitigation program, which is supported by Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to help communities reduce their risk. But that application was rejected because it did not meet federal specifications, including one that required the county have a current hazard mitigation plan on file, Texas emergency management spokesperson Wes Rapaport said. The county hired a consultant and an engineering firm to help prepare another application for the project for the next funding cycle in 2017. The system outlined in the county's preliminary plan would provide 'mass notifications to citizens about high water levels and flooding conditions throughout Kerr County.' At targeted low water crossings within Kerr County, sensors connected to monitoring stations would transmit a signal that would notify local officials and emergency management agencies of the rising water levels. Officials envisioned using that information to alert the public and call their contacts at youth camps and RV parks during emergencies. But after Hurricane Harvey caused record flooding in Houston and other areas of Texas in August 2017, 'funding was distributed to counties that fell under the disaster declaration, which Kerr County was not included on,' Rapaport said. The City of Kerrville's council voted 4-0 to decline to participate in the grant proposal, balking at its planned $50,000 contribution, minutes show. Texas voters created a new funding source for such projects in 2019, backing a constitutional amendment to create a state flood infrastructure fund with an initial $800 million investment. The Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which manages the watershed in Kerr County, revived the project last year with a $1 million initial request for funding. The Texas Water Development Board, which oversees the fund, offered a $50,000 grant and a $950,000 interest-free loan for the rest of the project. The river authority declined to pursue the funding, saying the terms were not favorable. ___ Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa; Keller from Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Mustian from Miami. Associated Press reporter Claudia Lauer contributed to this report from Philadelphia. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
San Francisco Chronicle
10-07-2025
- Climate
- San Francisco Chronicle
A decade of missed opportunities: Texas couldn't find $1M for flood warning system near camps
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July. The agencies repeatedly failed to secure roughly $1 million for a project to better protect the county's 50,000 residents and thousands of youth campers and tourists who spend time along the Guadalupe River in an area known as 'flash-flood alley.' The plan, which would have installed flood monitoring equipment near Camp Mystic, cost about as much as the county spends on courthouse security every two years, or 1.5% of its annual budget. Meanwhile, other communities had moved ahead with sirens and warning systems of their own. In nearby Comfort, a long, flat-three minute warning sound signifying flood danger helped evacuate the town of 2,000 people as practiced. Previous floods provided warnings A deadly 2015 Memorial Day flood in Kerr County rekindled debate over whether to install a flood monitoring system and sirens to alert the public to evacuate when the river rose to dangerous levels. Some officials, cognizant of a 1987 flood that killed eight people on a church camp bus, thought it was finally time. But the idea soon ran into opposition. Some residents and elected officials opposed the installation of sirens, citing the cost and noise that they feared would result from repeated alarms. County commissioners sought compromise. They moved forward with a plan for a warning system without sirens, which would improve flood monitoring with a series of sensors but leave it up to local authorities to alert the public. They didn't want to pay for it on their own but found little help elsewhere. The county's largest city, Kerrville, declined to participate in a joint grant application that would have required a $50,000 contribution. The state's emergency management agency twice passed over the county's request for hazard mitigation funding, citing a deficiency in the application and then backing communities ravaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The state's flood infrastructure fund later offered an interest-free loan for the project — but that plan was seen as too stingy and turned down by the agency in charge of managing the watershed. A failure to act Without the flood monitoring system, the county was left vulnerable when rains pounded the area in the early morning hours of July 4 and the river rapidly rose. 'There wasn't enough fight in them, and there needs to be more fight this time,' said Nicole Wilson, a San Antonio mother who pulled her daughters out of an area camp ahead of the flooding and who launched an online petition calling on Kerr County to install the sirens. 'Whether it's a combination of city, state and federal funding, there simply can't be the answer of 'no' this time.' Local authorities and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have urged the public not to point fingers after the flooding, which killed at least 120 people and left scores more reported missing. 'I would be willing to talk about it but not yet. It's just too raw right now,' said Glenn Andrew, a former Kerrville city council member who voted in 2017 to pull the city out of the grant proposal for the project. 'My preference is to look forward to the future.' A spokesperson for Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that lawmakers, who begin a special session later this month, would approve funding to cover such projects in the future. 'The state will provide emergency warning sirens where needed,' Patrick spokesperson Steven Aranyi wrote in an email. But some anger is starting to boil over. Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, Texas, in Kerr County, said Wednesday it's 'unfathomable' that county officials never took action despite repeatedly talking about it. 'That's just mind-boggling,' he said. 'It's unfathomable that they never worked on it. If it comes down to funding, they're constantly raising taxes on us for other stuff. This is more important. This is lives. This is families. This is heartbreaking.' Howard, who lives in a home along the Guadalupe River, said any action now would come too late for those who have died. Another chance ended in diverted funds Kerr County requested a flood warning system grant in 2016 through the Texas Division of Emergency Management's hazard mitigation program, which is supported by Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to help communities reduce their risk. But that application was rejected because it did not meet federal specifications, including one that required the county have a current hazard mitigation plan on file, Texas emergency management spokesperson Wes Rapaport said. The county hired a consultant and an engineering firm to help prepare another application for the project for the next funding cycle in 2017. The system outlined in the county's preliminary plan would provide 'mass notifications to citizens about high water levels and flooding conditions throughout Kerr County.' At targeted low water crossings within Kerr County, sensors connected to monitoring stations would transmit a signal that would notify local officials and emergency management agencies of the rising water levels. Officials envisioned using that information to alert the public and call their contacts at youth camps and RV parks during emergencies. But after Hurricane Harvey caused record flooding in Houston and other areas of Texas in August 2017, 'funding was distributed to counties that fell under the disaster declaration, which Kerr County was not included on,' Rapaport said. The City of Kerrville's council voted 4-0 to decline to participate in the grant proposal, balking at its planned $50,000 contribution, minutes show. Texas voters created a new funding source for such projects in 2019, backing a constitutional amendment to create a state flood infrastructure fund with an initial $800 million investment. The Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which manages the watershed in Kerr County, revived the project last year with a $1 million initial request for funding. The Texas Water Development Board, which oversees the fund, offered a $50,000 grant and a $950,000 interest-free loan for the rest of the project. ___
Winnipeg Free Press
10-07-2025
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
A decade of missed opportunities: Texas couldn't find $1M for flood warning system near camps
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of local and state agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert the type of disaster that swept away dozens of campers and others in Kerr County, Texas over the Fourth of July weekend. The agencies repeatedly failed to secure roughly $1 million for a project to better protect the county's 50,000 residents and thousands of youth campers and tourists who spend time along the Guadalupe River in an area known as 'flash-flood alley.' The plan, which would have installed flood monitoring equipment near Camp Mystic, cost about as much as the county spends on courthouse security every two years, or 1.5% of its annual budget. Meanwhile, other communities had moved ahead with sirens and warning systems of their own. In nearby Comfort, a long, flat-three minute warning sound signifying flood danger helped evacuate the town of 2,000 people as practiced. Previous floods provided warnings A deadly 2015 Memorial Day flood in Kerr County rekindled debate over whether to install a flood monitoring system and sirens to alert the public to evacuate when the river rose to dangerous levels. Some officials, cognizant of a 1987 flood that killed eight people on a church camp bus, thought it was finally time. But the idea soon ran into opposition. Some residents and elected officials opposed the installation of sirens, citing the cost and noise that they feared would result from repeated alarms. County commissioners sought compromise. They moved forward with a plan for a warning system without sirens, which would improve flood monitoring with a series of sensors but leave it up to local authorities to alert the public. They didn't want to pay for it on their own but found little help elsewhere. The county's largest city, Kerrville, declined to participate in a joint grant application that would have required a $50,000 contribution. The state's emergency management agency twice passed over the county's request for hazard mitigation funding, citing a deficiency in the application and then backing communities ravaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The state's flood infrastructure fund later offered an interest-free loan for the project — but that plan was seen as too stingy and turned down by the agency in charge of managing the watershed. A failure to act Without the flood monitoring system, the county was left vulnerable when rains pounded the area in the early morning hours of July 4 and the river rapidly rose. 'There wasn't enough fight in them, and there needs to be more fight this time,' said Nicole Wilson, a San Antonio mother who pulled her daughters out of an area camp ahead of the flooding and who launched an online petition calling on Kerr County to install the sirens. 'Whether it's a combination of city, state and federal funding, there simply can't be the answer of 'no' this time.' Local authorities and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have urged the public not to point fingers after the flooding, which killed more than 110 people and left scores more reported missing. 'I would be willing to talk about it but not yet. It's just too raw right now,' said Glenn Andrew, a former Kerrville city council member who voted in 2017 to pull the city out of the grant proposal for the project. 'My preference is to look forward to the future.' A spokesperson for Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that lawmakers, who begin a special session later this month, would approve funding to cover such projects in the future. 'The state will provide emergency warning sirens where needed,' Patrick spokesperson Steven Aranyi wrote in an email. But some anger is starting to boil over. Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, Texas, in Kerr County, said Wednesday it's 'unfathomable' that county officials never took action despite repeatedly talking about it. 'That's just mind-boggling,' he said. 'It's unfathomable that they never worked on it. If it comes down to funding, they're constantly raising taxes on us for other stuff. This is more important. This is lives. This is families. This is heartbreaking.' Howard, who lives in a home along the Guadalupe River, said any action now would come too late for those who have died. Another chance ended in diverted funds Kerr County requested a flood warning system grant in 2016 through the Texas Division of Emergency Management's hazard mitigation program, which is supported by Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to help communities reduce their risk. But that application was rejected because it did not meet federal specifications, including one that required the county have a current hazard mitigation plan on file, Texas emergency management spokesperson Wes Rapaport said. The county hired a consultant and an engineering firm to help prepare another application for the project for the next funding cycle in 2017. The system outlined in the county's preliminary plan would provide 'mass notifications to citizens about high water levels and flooding conditions throughout Kerr County.' At targeted low water crossings within Kerr County, sensors connected to monitoring stations would transmit a signal that would notify local officials and emergency management agencies of the rising water levels. Officials envisioned using that information to alert the public and call their contacts at youth camps and RV parks during emergencies. But after Hurricane Harvey caused record flooding in Houston and other areas of Texas in August 2017, 'funding was distributed to counties that fell under the disaster declaration, which Kerr County was not included on,' Rapaport said. The City of Kerrville's council voted 4-0 to decline to participate in the grant proposal, balking at its planned $50,000 contribution, minutes show. Texas voters created a new funding source for such projects in 2019, backing a constitutional amendment to create a state flood infrastructure fund with an initial $800 million investment. The Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which manages the watershed in Kerr County, revived the project last year with a $1 million initial request for funding. The Texas Water Development Board, which oversees the fund, offered a $50,000 grant and a $950,000 interest-free loan for the rest of the project. The river authority declined to pursue the funding, saying the terms were not favorable. ___ Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa; Keller from Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Mustian from Miami. Associated Press reporter Claudia Lauer contributed to this report from Philadelphia.
