OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Resilience Committee Meeting: Texas A&M AgriLife Presentation on April 2, 2026

Committees and Commissions — Thursday, April 2, 2026
BodyHouston, Texas
SessionCommittees and Commissions
DateThursday, April 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 18:41

Transcript — Verbatim
0:19

Good morning and welcome to the resilience committee meeting.

0:24

It is 10 o'clock, so we'll go ahead and get started.

0:28

I want to uh call the meeting to order and welcome.

0:32

We have staff from Councilmember Castillo, Alcorn, Peck, Castex Tatum, Thomas, and Kamen's office, and then we have staff from Councilmember Flickinger, Brad Buckinger's online, and as well as somebody else's online.

0:52

Oh, IT.

0:53

We need IT.

0:54

Stay on the line, IT.

0:56

Um we need IT.

1:01

Always need IT.

1:02

Uh so today um we're very grateful to have our friends from uh the Houston area down in Chambers County and around and we um Pam and Phoenix.

1:16

Come on up.

1:17

So we've got uh Pamurker, Naruker, and Phoenix Rogers with the Texas AM AgriLife Extension.

1:27

Um we're glad to have you all.

1:29

Do you all have chairs there?

1:31

You can have a seat.

1:32

We'll get ready.

1:33

Um thank you all for being here.

1:35

We look forward to uh to learning the work of work that you're doing and making some connections along the way because I think you're doing really good work.

1:42

So thank you all for being here.

1:44

Well, thank you for having us.

1:45

Thanks for having us.

1:46

Um I'll get started.

1:48

Um, as you can see from the image, this is a neighborhood in MyReland, Houston, and these houses were built uh when they were not in a flood zone.

1:59

And it's the same neighborhood, same storm, but very different results.

2:03

So, what led to those results?

2:06

Well, it wasn't chance, it was planning, infrastructure, and having the right information at the right time.

2:13

And so that's what we do here at Texas AM AgriLife Extension.

2:17

So we provide communities uh we help them make better decisions even before disaster strikes.

2:24

Next slide, please.

2:27

So hi, my name is Pam Naruker, and this is my colleague, Phoenix Rogers, and we are with Disaster Assessment and Recovery, DAR.

2:35

Um, and we're here to talk about how we support communities through data technology workshops and education, and how that connects to resilience at the local level.

2:45

Next slide.

2:48

So Houston faces a unique set of problems.

2:51

There's rapid growth, there's higher risk of floods, and there's infrastructure challenges.

2:57

And one of the biggest gaps we see is the data needed for planning decisions are fragmented or they're very difficult to access.

3:05

Um, so that makes planning really hard.

3:08

Next slide, please.

3:10

And so this graph shows the rapid growth we see in Harris County, but Houston as well is growing very rapidly.

3:17

Um in 2025, the Houston metropolitan area had 6.9 million people, and in Harris County, it was five million.

3:26

Um so that really puts pressure on infrastructure and makes planning really important.

3:33

Next slide.

3:36

And on top of the rapid growth, um the disaster events are becoming more rap uh frequent and are more costly.

3:44

So uh Houston is one of the most flood-prone cities in all of U.S.

3:50

And Harris County has floods every two years.

3:54

As you can see from the graph, um, in Texas in 2024, disaster events cost 200 billion dollars.

4:03

So that makes um you know planning really critical.

4:08

Next slide, please.

4:10

And so that's where DAR comes in, disaster assessment and recovery.

4:15

And uh we were formed in 2020 after all the great work the agency did um with a lot of disaster events, including uh Hurricane Harvey.

4:25

And we are led by Dr.

4:27

Monty Dozier, he's here today.

4:30

Um, and we have about 60 personnel.

4:33

Um we cover the entire disaster resilience lifecycle.

4:37

So that involves mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

4:41

So I'll go over mitigation and planning, and Phoenix is going to cover preparedness, response, and recovery.

4:47

Next slide, please.

4:50

So part of the mitigation branch is CHARM, which stands for community hazards and resource management.

5:00

So we have tools, workshops, and education to provide support for hazard mitigation, land use planning, and long-term growth.

5:05

Next slide, please.

5:09

In terms of our tool sets, we help visualize different planning scenarios, and that helps them communities make better decisions in terms of planning and mitigation.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Disaster Recovery█████████████████████████████████████████████88%
Public Education████8%
Infrastructure██4%
Summary of Proceedings

Resilience Committee Meeting: Texas A&M AgriLife Presentation on April 2, 2026

The Resilience Committee of the Houston City Council met on April 2, 2026, at 10 a.m. to receive a presentation from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's Disaster Assessment and Recovery (DAR) unit, led by Pam Naruker and Phoenix Rogers. The presentation covered the unit's data tools, workshops, and educational programs aimed at supporting community resilience through mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The meeting included staff from multiple council offices and concluded without public comments or formal votes.

Presentation Highlights

  • Rapid Growth & Flood Risk: The Houston metropolitan area had 6.9 million people in 2025, and Harris County 5 million. Houston is one of the most flood-prone cities in the U.S., with Harris County experiencing floods every two years. In 2024, disaster events in Texas cost $200 billion.
  • DAR Tools: The unit offers CHARM Studio (a mapping tool for citizens and officials), Data Grid (integrating local, state, and federal data), and Community Viz (a GIS plugin for custom analytics). These tools help visualize planning scenarios and support informed decisions on land use and mitigation.
  • Workshops & Education: The DAR provides resiliency workshops, Pi (project identification), CTAP (technical assistance scoping), and the Texas Citizen Planner program (online and in-person courses on planning, zoning, and hazard mitigation). They have worked with over 150 communities and thousands of attendees.
  • Green Infrastructure: The GIFT program focuses on nature-based solutions at site, neighborhood, and large scales (e.g., rain gardens, stormwater management, and Exploration Green, a 200-acre green infrastructure project).
  • Preparedness & Response: Phoenix Rogers highlighted individual and community preparedness (e.g., emergency kits, evacuation planning) aligning with Resilient Houston's goal of providing 500,000 Houstonians with disaster literacy education. The unit is the statewide lead for agriculture and natural resources under Emergency Support Function 11, supporting animal sheltering, soil and water testing post-disaster, and documenting agricultural losses.
  • Collaboration: The unit expressed willingness to partner with Houston to accelerate existing resilience efforts, emphasizing a "start small" approach and building on what communities already do.

Discussion Items

  • A council member asked how updated flood maps have impacted the unit's work. Pam Naruker responded that they integrate the latest maps and continue to update as new data is released. Another speaker noted that shifting maps can alter priorities, moving communities from perceived low-risk zones to higher-risk consideration, requiring more focused planning.
  • The committee chair suggested connecting the unit with the mayor's roundtable and targeting high-priority districts for preparedness education in community centers.

Key Outcomes

  • The presentation was informational and received positively. No votes or formal decisions were taken.
  • The next Resilience Committee meeting was scheduled for May 7, 2026, at 10 a.m.
  • The chair encouraged all council offices present to reach out directly for collaboration.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning and welcome to the resilience committee meeting. It is 10 o'clock, so we'll go ahead and get started. I want to uh call the meeting to order and welcome. We have staff from Councilmember Castillo, Alcorn, Peck, Castex Tatum, Thomas, and Kamen's office, and then we have staff from Councilmember Flickinger, Brad Buckinger's online, and as well as somebody else's online. Oh, IT. We need IT. Stay on the line, IT. Um we need IT. Always need IT. Uh so today um we're very grateful to have our friends from uh the Houston area down in Chambers County and around and we um Pam and Phoenix. Come on up. So we've got uh Pamurker, Naruker, and Phoenix Rogers with the Texas AM AgriLife Extension. Um we're glad to have you all. Do you all have chairs there? You can have a seat. We'll get ready. Um thank you all for being here. We look forward to uh to learning the work of work that you're doing and making some connections along the way because I think you're doing really good work. So thank you all for being here. Well, thank you for having us. Thanks for having us. Um I'll get started. Um, as you can see from the image, this is a neighborhood in MyReland, Houston, and these houses were built uh when they were not in a flood zone. And it's the same neighborhood, same storm, but very different results. So, what led to those results? Well, it wasn't chance, it was planning, infrastructure, and having the right information at the right time. And so that's what we do here at Texas AM AgriLife Extension. So we provide communities uh we help them make better decisions even before disaster strikes. Next slide, please. So hi, my name is Pam Naruker, and this is my colleague, Phoenix Rogers, and we are with Disaster Assessment and Recovery, DAR. Um, and we're here to talk about how we support communities through data technology workshops and education, and how that connects to resilience at the local level. Next slide. So Houston faces a unique set of problems. There's rapid growth, there's higher risk of floods, and there's infrastructure challenges. And one of the biggest gaps we see is the data needed for planning decisions are fragmented or they're very difficult to access. Um, so that makes planning really hard. Next slide, please. And so this graph shows the rapid growth we see in Harris County, but Houston as well is growing very rapidly. Um in 2025, the Houston metropolitan area had 6.9 million people, and in Harris County, it was five million. Um so that really puts pressure on infrastructure and makes planning really important. Next slide. And on top of the rapid growth, um the disaster events are becoming more rap uh frequent and are more costly. So uh Houston is one of the most flood-prone cities in all of U.S. And Harris County has floods every two years. As you can see from the graph, um, in Texas in 2024, disaster events cost 200 billion dollars. So that makes um you know planning really critical. Next slide, please. And so that's where DAR comes in, disaster assessment and recovery. And uh we were formed in 2020 after all the great work the agency did um with a lot of disaster events, including uh Hurricane Harvey. And we are led by Dr.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com