DEPARTMENT: City Manager’s Office
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Ben Gorzell Jr.
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Briefing and Final Report from the Committee on Emergency Preparedness
SUMMARY:
A briefing on the Final Report from the Committee on Emergency Preparedness.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
From February 14, 2021 to February 19, 2021, the continental United States experienced a severe winter storm resulting from the southern migration of a polar vortex that meteorologists characterize as the most significant in terms of scope and duration since the monitoring of these weather phenomenon began in the 1950s. With this storm referred to as Winter Storm Uri, San Antonio experienced three consecutive days of record low temperatures and record low daily high temperatures and wind chills.
This week of severe winter weather had significant impacts on the San Antonio community and our residents. These unprecedented winter event had cascading impacts during its duration including electricity outages, water outages, and transportation to include air, public, and vehicular.
The impacts of this event caused frustration, questions, calls for accountability from our residents along with concerns about the City’s resilience and preparedness. On February 22nd, the Mayor created the Select Committee on 2021 Winter Storm Preparedness and Response now known as the “Committee on Emergency Preparedness”. The Mayor tasked the Committee with studying the event to determine what happened and to provide recommendations on what needs to be done to better prepare for future winter weather emergency events. In this regard, the study is focused on CPS Energy, the San Antonio Water System, and the City’s Emergency Operations Center.
The following individuals served on the Committee:
• Chair, Reed Williams, former City Councilmember District 8
• Vice Chair, General Edward A. Rice Jr., USAF (RET)
• Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia, City Council District 4
• Ana Sandoval, City Council District 7
• Manny Pelaez, City Council District 8
• Clayton Perry, City Council District 10
• Lisa Tatum, former assistant criminal district attorney and president of the Texas Bar Association
The Committee held its first meeting on March 5, 2021 and had 12 subsequent meetings. In these meetings, the Committee developed Requests for Information (RFI) taking into consideration public feedback regarding public entity performance and preparation in the “before, during, and after” phases of Winter Storm Uri. These RFIs were submitted to CPS Energy, SAWS, and the City of San Antonio for response. These RFIs and the accompanying responses can be found on the committee’s website: <https://www.sanantonio.gov/Emergency-Preparedness-Committee> <http://www.sanantonio.gov/Emergency-Preparedness-Committee>. Members of the public can also find recordings of previous meetings.
Based upon analysis of the information provided through the RFIs and other sources, the Committee has developed a Report to include recommendations for each entity, CPS Energy, SAWS, and the City of San Antonio, respectively. These recommendations are intended to improve and better prepare the entities to manage significant future emergencies with cascading impacts to include a severe winter event. This item will provide a briefing on the final report and recommendations.
ISSUE:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
ALTERNATIVES:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
RECOMMENDATION:
This item is for briefing purposes only.