San Antonio and Bexar County leaders are actively preparing for hurricane season and feel prepared

SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County and San Antonio leaders are preparing for hurricane season while recognizing the city’s central role as a key evacuation center in the event of an emergency.

As Hurricane Beryl heads west across the Caribbean, the Texas Division of Emergency Management is advising Texans in coastal communities and vacationers to monitor the Gulf and have a plan ready for potential impacts.

“Fortunately, where we are in San Antonio, we don’t often see the direct negative impacts of hurricanes on the weather, but we are often faced with an evacuation center for the entire Gulf Coast,” said Joe Arrington, public information officer for SAFD.

Arrington said local leaders have been preparing for hurricane season for months, recognizing the city’s history as a crucial evacuation center in an emergency.

“Working with the Texas Department of Emergency Management, we are coordinating efforts to accommodate these individuals, such as when they need to move from the Corpus Christi area to Galveston. We have already received them from Louisiana all the way to the Mexican border in Texas,” Arrington said.

The city also offered shelter to emergency responders.

“Emergency responders who are arriving to go to where the damage has occurred, that is urban search and rescue teams, Red Cross teams, we provide shelter or a place to set up,” Arrington said.

During a major weather event, the Brooks Emergency Operations Center is activated.

“If the city has to send a message, this happened during COVID, sometimes it happens during inclement weather that is completely controlled here,” Arrington said.

The center includes several rooms where city and county officials and leaders of different organizations can strategize and coordinate.

Arrington said the center was activated during hurricanes Harvey, Laura and Ida.

“Let’s say an event happens and a hurricane comes ashore, and we see that we’re getting evacuees here, this place will become fully operational. Everybody you can think of that might be needed will come here, fire, police, all the hospitals,” Arrington said.

Arrington advised listening to your local weather forecast and staying informed about what’s happening.

“If we get heavy rain from the outer areas of a hurricane, we’re going to have flash flooding. That’s the reality of where we live. Don’t take flooded roads, have backup batteries,” Arrington said.

You can also prepare now by having an emergency kit, reviewing your flood insurance, securing essential documents and learning evacuation routes.

Here is a link to the city’s flood preparedness guide.