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Houston officials say city coordinating with federal agencies after Kerrville fatalities; HPD on standby
Summary
The mayor of Houston offered condolences for lives lost in Kerrville, said federal agencies had taken a lead on rescue operations, and described Houston's ongoing readiness and coordination with local and federal responders.
The mayor of Houston addressed recent fatalities in Kerrville, offering condolences and saying city agencies are coordinating with federal partners on rescue and recovery efforts.
"Before we go to work, I wanna speak to the loss of lives in Kerrville, the loss of lives of Houstonians," the mayor said. He said officials were "keeping our eye on weather reports" and that the city's emergency center and first responders, including public works, were prepared.
City leaders said federal agencies — including the U.S. Coast Guard and National Guard — had substantially taken over the rescue response, and that Houston police had been asked to remain on standby. "In fact, last night, we sent additional resources. HPD is on call. Largely, we were advised that the federal government is pretty much taken over the rescue with the coast guard, the national guard, and other, agencies," the mayor said.
The mayor named several officials and units involved in coordination: Director Ricardo (who led the city's Freedom Over Texas event), Nim Kidd, Freeman Martin (director of DPS), Chief Munoz, Chief Diaz and Ron Mason. He said dive teams and other specialized units had been deployed and that city leaders were in constant contact with federal and state authorities.
The mayor urged unity and compassion while families remained in distress, saying the situation "is probably as bad a tragedy as I've seen in my 50 plus years of public service" and calling for Houstonians to come together regardless of partisan or other differences.
Officials did not announce new policy actions, emergency declarations or specific resource counts in the remarks. The mayor said he would consult with counsel and his team on "other steps we can take to assist the families" but provided no further specifics during these remarks.
