Gov. Greg Abbott addresses Tropical Storm Francine concerns ahead of landfall

I tell you, they don't want, they don't sign it, you know. OK. And as soon as we all get out, do you want later? Now? I got here. Right. Yeah. 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, uh whatever Francine may deliver. Uh I wanna start out by uh thanking uh Mayor West for being here. Uh Judge Bran, Judge uh Gothia. Uh we have uh speaker pin, uh representative Terry Leo Wilson and Representative Christian manual with us. Also, listen, this, this is something that all of us uh 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 Francine 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, and surrounding areas. But even if the current track stays true and it francine goes directly into Louisiana. There are still gonna 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 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 uh meaningful winds taking place. It could be 25 30 35 mile per hour 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 riptides. Uh if you go out into the water into the ocean, but you cannot necessarily see those riptides, but you could be uh 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 needed to make sure that everybody in Southeast Texas is gonna have all the tools and resources they need to be able to respond to Francine. Uh For example, the Texas uh division of emergency manager and management has already deployed resources all the way from Brownsville to Beaumont, the National Guard. Uh They have uh a dedicated team right here uh in Beaumont of more than 30 National Guard with uh additional National Guard in backup uh 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 uh 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 uh that's needed to, to make sure the people of Southeast Texas are gonna 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 Kidd and myself, we remain in constant contact with local officials, we have and 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 the rain, the wind, but it's an imperative that your power stays on. Uh Chief Kidd and myself, we we've been in constant contact with energy to make sure that they are fully prepared uh 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 this storm. Uh We just got reassurances from energy. They are prepared for this and in other regions of the state of Texas, we have received similar reassurances. That status 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 end. And in response to what should be a, a relatively, uh, minimal storm compared to some other types of storms that Texas has dealt with in the past bottom line t 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 Brennan? 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. Uh, some of which has been very significant. Uh, I for one am extremely appreciative of the state of Texas. Uh, al although not with the county at the time I was here during hurricane Rita and after that, while with the county, with Humberto Gustav Edward, Ike, uh, Ida Harvey, and I've noticed that over the last 20 years, the state has taken a much more holistic approach to emergency preparation of reaction and, uh, you know, they have such a great relationship and it forged relationships with all of the other state agencies and federal agencies that have expedited, uh, 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, the scene of 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 DB P disaster recovery money, uh flood mitigation assistance, money. And so as a result, our drainage systems are much better off today than they were when we had. Harvey, our uh sea Wall is being improved and advocating with our federal counterpart for under the Water Resources Development Act. And so, uh you know, I can't say enough good of about the partnership that we've had and the assistance that y'all have provided uh and the communication that, that we've enjoyed with the state. Uh I want deeply appreciative. I also wanna say that uh during Barrel and during other storms where we've had power outages, energy Texas has uh brought to bear all the resources necessary for quick recovery. And we did, we have not experienced the types of episode that Houston experienced during the era uh with delays uh because of inadequate resources brought good to hear me judge. Uh Well, same thing. Uh you know, uh Judge Brank always does a really good job of covering all the details and before I get to. So, uh but the same thing I just appreciate you coming. I appreciate uh 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, I'm kind of catching some of the last recent changes that Tetum 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 then 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 that 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 AAA huge uh amount of resources that we have to our availability. Uh My emergency management coordinator, Jill Lord Wayne 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, uh it's, it's just important that we're, that we're able to do that now and that we're able to kind of keep that on track. And our members in Louisiana, we want, you know, we wish them the best and, 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 a 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 tech dot from Tech dot Parks and wildlife, all the different ages, 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 and take this thing terms. So, but thank you. Got it. Good job there. Well, governor, uh, welcome to Beaumont, 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 Beaumont, we want to remind all our residents to be vigilant and pay attention to this storm, but still, uh, has a long ways to go and we want to make sure that we keep all our residents safe. I know our, uh, 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 wanna make sure we keep them well informed that and really appreciate the local and state partnerships that we have got it. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Governor. And uh I wanna thank the elected officials here at this table. That 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 24 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 hire any ambassador here. 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 at 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 to 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 the 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 you a few questions. Anyone. All right. Well, thank you. Go, go for, what is this teach has to be done for like the future of our fifties. And obviously we're in the peak. Now, what does that look like? So listen, th th this, this is uh 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. Uh Again, we, we focus first and foremost on set, we deploy all the assets that Chief K was talking about to make sure that regardless of what's gonna 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 wanna make sure we do everything we can to protect property and to keep power on. And so we constantly work to improve what our response is. Learn from uh past storms, take what we learn from those storms and implement it in response to storms like Francine. Is there anything for me forms that you're using to prepare for your response for the? So I, I missed your first party question. Is there any particular word that you're using as? So listen, we've gone back a long way. Oo one storm that was the biggest uh was hurricane Harvey. Uh And what uh the state of Texas did. Uh We partnered with Texas A and M and Chancellor Sharp. Uh And we literally wrote an entire book on it. Uh How to respond, not just to storms like that, but to uh respond to storms in the future. So we, we take information like that that assembled in the aftermath of a storm, turn 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. Uh 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. Sure. Uh what resources have the state of Texas already sent to nothing yet. We, we have not seen anything yet. We're 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 lulled 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 will offer support. Great. Thank you, everyone.