Irving outlines tornado response and awards $23.8M contract for West Irving Creek channel work

City emergency and public‑works officials briefed the Irving City Council on the city’s March 4 severe weather response and on a planned multi‑phase channel improvement project on West Irving Creek, including a proposed construction contract for the project’s first phase.

Jason Carrier, Irving’s emergency management coordinator, told the council the storm included a brief EF‑1 tornado with winds the National Weather Service estimated in a range that would have reached EF‑2 with only a small increase. Carrier said emergency responders opened Georgia Farrow as a temporary shelter early the morning after the event, coordinated with the American Red Cross and other nonprofits to provide food, case management and animal services, and evacuated a heavily damaged apartment complex called Tree Country. Carrier said roughly 85 units in that complex — about 340 residents, including three city employees — were displaced and required re‑housing assistance.

Carrier described coordinated work between police, fire, parks and recreation and nonprofit partners. He said the National Weather Service confirmed a brief tornado after a site inspection and that the city activated a local disaster declaration; Mayor Pro Tem Webb signed the declaration on March 5 to enable disaster‑response powers.

On infrastructure, City Engineer Walt Thomas explained the West Irving Creek Channel improvements and said the project had been re‑scoped to allow construction of Phase A first — work that will reduce flood risk for neighborhoods including Barton Estates and Sherwood Forest. Thomas said the city broke the larger West Irving Creek work into four phases and that Phase A can be advanced earlier because the Waichi Park detention area can be used to manage the 100‑year storm while downstream phases are completed.

Thomas said the project received state funding support from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB): an offer that included a 14% grant (about $6.3 million) plus a 0% private‑placement loan for the remainder of the requested funding. He said the low bid for Phase A — Humphrey & Morton Construction Company, Inc. — came in at roughly $23.75 million, below the engineering estimate of about $30 million, and that staff recommended awarding that contract with a 912‑calendar‑day contract time.

Thomas described downstream phases and ongoing design work; he said staff is seeking further TWDB funding for subsequent phases and that the city has coordinated bond capacity and prior bond program funds to match the TWDB package. Council members praised the interagency and nonprofit response to the storm, noted the long schedule for major channel work (Thomas said 912 days for the Phase A contract), and urged continued outreach to affected neighborhoods.

What residents were told: Carrier and staff described temporary sheltering (Georgia Farrow), donations and meals from community partners, American Red Cross intake and case management, Salvation Army meals, and assistance from local nonprofits including Irving Cares and Catholic Charities. The Small Business Administration (SBA) will offer low‑interest disaster loans with bilingual staff at Lively Point Youth Center beginning the week after the storm, Carrier said.

Next steps: staff recommended council approve award of the Phase A construction contract and continue outreach and coordination for downstream phases. The City’s application to TWDB for additional grant/loan support is pending; staff said they will return with contract documents and next‑phase funding requests as those awards become available.