CLIMATEWIRE | Texas knows it isn’t prepared for floods.
But the state has done little to address the risk — and the federal government under President Donald Trump is unlikely to help Texas cover the cost.
The threat was underscored last week when floodwaters ravaged central Texas — killing more than 100 people, including more than two dozen children and staff at a riverside summer camp. About 160 people were still missing as of Tuesday evening, according to Texas public safety officials.
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Officials have vowed to take action, and state lawmakers are scheduled to meet July 21 for a special legislative session that’s intended to bolster Texas’ emergency response.
Yet the latest disaster isn’t the first time Texas has dealt with mass casualties from a flood event. Nor is the upcoming Statehouse session the first time that Texas has tried to address flood risk.
The lack of meaningful progress highlights the challenge of preparing for natural disasters such as floods and wildfires that are being made worse by climate change. And it reinforces the risk of shifting more of that responsibility to states, as proposed by the Trump administration.
“Hopefully this tragic event will open everyone’s eyes,” said Marie Camino, government affairs director at the Nature Conservancy in Texas.
Texas has faced devastating floods before — including 2017, when Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 48 inches of rain on Houston and other Gulf Coast communities. The storm left dozens dead and caused more than $125 billion in damages.
In response, state lawmakers in 2019 created the Texas Flood Infrastructure Fund and began planning projects to control high water around the state.
The fund, overseen by the Texas Water Development Board, has identified $54 billion in flood control needs across Texas. But lawmakers so far have devoted just $1.4 billion to fix them.
The lack of funding can be attributed to two factors, observers say.
The first is ideological. Texas Republicans — who control the Statehouse and governor’s mansion — are big believers in fiscal conservatism. So there isn’t a groundswell of enthusiasm to fund major government projects.
There’s a practical concern too.
Before lawmakers were willing to commit money to flood projects, they wanted to make sure that plans were written to address each river basin in the state.
Otherwise, there’s the risk that a project in one city would simply steer floodwaters to other communities, said state Sen. Charles Perry, who chairs the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
“We created this very detailed, very elaborate watershed planning, where every watershed would coordinate with all the municipalities and cities up and down that watershed to make sure that as you’re moving water from one place, you’re not just dumping it on the next place,” he said.
Texas legislators have tried recently to steer more money to the effort.
This spring, lawmakers passed a plan that would devote up to $500 million annually over the next 20 years to flood projects. But the proposal must first earn the support of Texas voters in a statewide referendum, now set for November.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other state officials have described the plan as a “Texas-sized” commitment to water infrastructure and flood prevention.
Perry said the money could help address the Legislature’s on-again, off-again approach to funding flood projects. “It is a game changer,” Perry said. “It will be significant.”
Even if voters approve the proposal, there’s another catch. Lawmakers have talked about using the state money as matching funds for federal grants — and that appears less likely under the Trump administration.
Earlier this year, Trump canceled a grant program that helps states, tribes and local communities prepare for natural disasters. The president also has stopped approving Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants, which help states recover from disasters and harden their communities against future calamities.
“Prior to the current administration, a planning assumption could be that those state monies could be used in concert with federal mitigation and infrastructure money to make the state and local funds go further,” said Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers.
“Given the administration’s direction at this point, it probably is a logical question to ask whether or not that will be enough,” Berginnis added. “It doesn’t appear that there will be federal funds to match that.”
The risks will keep rising with global warming, scientists say. That means events like last week’s floods will become more frequent.
“Flash flood events from torrential downpours and thunderstorms is actually something I think we’ve significantly underestimated as a hazard in a warming climate,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the California Institute for Water Resources, in a live YouTube talk on Monday. “These are precisely the kinds of events that are going to increase the most — and in fact already are, and much faster than ‘ordinary’ precipitation events.”
It’s not clear yet how state lawmakers will address emergency management when they meet later this month. Under state law, the governor sets the agenda for special sessions, and Abbott hasn’t announced his intentions.
Perry said he’s working on a bill that would allow some of the state water funds to flow toward emergency response equipment. Lawmakers considered a bill this spring that would’ve paid for warning sirens and other communications equipment, but they rejected it because of its cost.
But state leaders are lining up to take action. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the state Senate, said Monday on Fox News that warning sirens in flood-prone areas would be a priority, after news reports showed that Kerr County officials considered the idea but balked at the cost.
Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows toured Kerr County by helicopter Tuesday and spoke to reporters in Hunt, one of the towns devastated by the flood.
Burrows said he’s fielding calls from House members across the state who want to help — and Abbott promised results.
“We want to make sure that when we end that session, we end it making sure these communities are better, more resilient and have the resources that they need for the next chapter of their lives,” Abbott said.
Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.
