Victoria County OEM staffer describes role in Travis County flood response and family reunification effort

A Victoria County emergency-management staff member briefed commissioners Aug. 18 on her deployment with the Texas Incident Support Task Force (ISTF) to assist recovery operations in flood-impacted areas of Travis County.

Jenna, a Victoria County Office of Emergency Management staff member, told the court she deployed with the ISTF from Aug. 8 to Aug. 15 to help with public information, communications, and general recovery coordination. She said the ISTF was created under House Bill 6 after the 2017 Hurricane Harvey lessons and that the task force is a rostered group of local subject-matter experts who assist affected jurisdictions without taking over local command.

While deployed, Jenna said she and other team members helped establish a family reunification center after a school-bus rollover on the first day of school near Leander ISD. "We were able to assist in establishing a family reunification center," she said, and reported that the children involved sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were reunited with family.

Jenna described other ISTF duties in Travis County: disseminating information about individual assistance application deadlines, assisting residents with debris questions, and helping social-service continuity during recovery. She said the ISTF can be requested by jurisdictions through the state's WebEOC resource-request system and can provide functions ranging from public information to debris-management and disaster-finance support.

Why it matters: The county described participating in regional mutual-aid recovery after flooding that damaged structures and bridges in several counties. The presentation explained how locally credentialed subject-matter experts can augment response and recovery in affected jurisdictions.

No formal action was taken; the presentation was informational.