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Record of Proceedings

Houston City Council Public Safety Committee High Water Rescue Operations - July 14, 2026

Committees and Commissions — Tuesday, July 14, 2026
BodyHouston, Texas
SessionCommittees and Commissions
DateTuesday, July 14, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 29:53

Transcript — Verbatim
0:22

This meeting to order.

0:23

We are joined this morning by Councilmember Ramirez and Councilmember Davis.

0:28

Thank you for being here.

0:30

We're also joined by staff from Vice Chair Councilmember Jackson's office, Councilmember Tiffany Thomas' office, Councilmember Mary Nan Huffman's office, Councilmember Martinez's office, Mayor Pro Tem Castic Statum's office, Councilmember Carter's office, and Councilmember Alcorn's office.

0:48

Okay, everyone.

0:49

Great.

0:50

We have one presentation today.

0:52

We were supposed to have two, the Ethan program has been delayed.

0:58

HFD will come back and give that presentation another time.

1:03

But we are very excited to have Captain Bill Moreno to present about high water rescue operations from HFD, and we are happy to have HPD come and give an overview of their high water rescue operations and another month as well after after FIFA is done.

1:23

So I think we are ready to start, Captain.

1:27

Good morning.

1:28

I think it's fitting that we have this conversation today where it is possibly have some flooding going on today.

1:34

Across the state, there is going to be some flooding.

1:36

Texas Task Force One is deploying, so we'll be deploying directly after this meeting.

1:41

Just to give you a little overview of where we are, what we're doing, and who I am.

1:46

So first off, I'm Captain Marino.

1:49

I'm over the water, the Marine Division for the Houston Fire Department.

1:52

My background with the city has been a firefighter in rescue, an engineer operator in rescue, and a captain and rescue.

1:59

In addition to what I do for the city, I'm on Texas AM Task Force One.

2:03

Made several deployments.

2:05

After the 12 days of Harvey, I was on a C 17 flying to Puerto Rico for Irma and Maria.

2:09

I was in Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Maria, Irma, Michael, Florence, Helene, and I did 86 days recently in Kerrville.

2:20

So when I tell you that these recommendations are, it's not something that I think is just a good idea.

2:26

It's something that I've seen works and is that we should be following.

2:33

Okay.

2:34

So just a little history lesson.

2:35

What's going on in uh Houston with flooding and 1935?

2:40

Uh we had a fire that we lost eight pumpers.

2:43

To put that in today's perspective, that's 26 engines, 26 million dollars of fire trucks that are damaged.

2:50

That's not including ladder trucks, ambulances, or any other heavy vehicles that we have that flooded out.

2:56

Next slide.

2:59

Currently, we continue to see climate emergencies.

3:02

Uh in 2024, we had 27 climate emergencies, equaling about a billion dollars apiece.

3:07

That Purges County and Houston is no different from that.

3:11

Water rescues are probably some of the most dangerous rescues that we do.

3:15

We see that going on right now, 400 times more likely to have an incident during that part.

3:21

Over the years, 4,000 people drown each year.

3:24

Trying to separate that between who's a rescuer and who's not a rescuer, it was kind of hard to do, but I found one study that said 10% of those calls of those drownings were would-be rescuers.

3:35

The only area of safe refuge during a flood is out of the water, and that's where we're trying to pull people out of.

3:43

Regardless of the settings, water's relentless, unpredictable, and powerful.

3:49

We can't overswim, we can't overcome that, and that's why we push the emphasis on our members to swim.

3:57

Something else that I think we've prided ourselves on is that we have a situation that we set up a training program that is not successful for everybody.

4:05

We push our members to the extreme so that when that incident happens, we know that they're capable of doing this.

4:12

That came from Travis Maher, who's a retired or the Sea Battalion chief from Austin Fire Department.

4:19

Next slide.

4:21

If you're not aware, FEMA's updated the flood maps that are coming out.

4:26

Right now they're in draft form, and if you look at the maps with the updated form, it adds another 175,000 homes.

4:34

That's not including the 170 government buildings that are going to be in the flood zone now.

4:40

The increase, that 31% increase is now a 200 square miles additional to what we're already dealing with.

4:49

Part of the reason for the change is the atlas is the atlas factor.

4:54

Atlas 14 was a study that FEMA did to figure out exactly how much rainfalls are falling and how frequency it's falling now.

5:02

And so those studies now are up helped update the flood maps.

5:07

So right now they're in committing, they'll be pushed out by the end of uh 2026 and can go live in 2027.

5:16

So the 500 year is the old 500 year is now the new hundred year, and if you're looking at that, who's gonna be impacted on that?

5:24

First off, the impact's gonna be our response.

5:26

Our response is gonna have to be greater on that.

5:30

The other thing that's gonna happen is homeowners, homeowners insurance, renters' insurance, that is also gonna be affected by these.

5:36

Next slide.

5:40

Here's some things that I've started playing with and looking this up.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████63%
Public Safety█████████████████24%
Personnel Matters█████7%
Procedural████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Houston City Council Public Safety Committee Meeting on High Water Rescue Operations - July 14, 2026

The Public Safety Committee of the Houston City Council met on July 14, 2026, chaired by Councilmember Peck, to receive a presentation from HFD Captain Bill Moreno on high water rescue operations. Councilmembers Ramirez and Davis were present in person, with Vice Chair Jackson and staff from several other council offices joining online. The meeting also included public comment from a resident regarding HFD EMS services.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • John Nicks spoke, requesting a complete overhaul of HFD EMS. He reported that when his blood sugar spiked, two EMS units responded, the ride was bumpy, and paramedics refused to take him to his preferred hospital, instead transporting to Memorial City Memorial Hermann, which he described as 'awful' with long wait times. He suggested that EMS be separated from HFD into an independent agency, similar to Montgomery County Hospital District EMS. Councilmember Peck acknowledged the comments and noted the city policy limiting transport to hospitals within 20 minutes, agreeing the issue needs review.

Discussion Items

  • HFD High Water Rescue Presentation by Captain Bill Moreno
    • Captain Moreno, head of HFD Marine Division and a member of Texas A&M Task Force One, provided an overview of Houston's flood risks and rescue capabilities.
    • Flooding History & Risks: He noted that in 2024 there were 27 climate emergencies, each costing about $1 billion. Updated FEMA flood maps (Atlas 14) will add 175,000 homes and 170 government buildings to the floodplain, a 31% increase covering 200 additional square miles. The old 500-year floodplain is now the new 100-year floodplain. Nationally, 4,000 drownings occur annually, with 10% being would-be rescuers.
    • Call Volume: In non-hurricane years, HFD handled more water rescue calls (145 in 2024) than during a hurricane year (120 in 2023). Most calls involve everyday rain, not hurricanes. Public Works states the city can only handle 4 inches of rain per hour before nuisance flooding begins.
    • Equipment & Training:
      • HFD uses multi-mission boosters (operate in 20-24 inches of water), high water vehicles (M923 military trucks, safe up to 30 inches, no electronics), boatwreck classics (primary boats, need 24 inches), double-stack boats (post-Harvey purchases, limited payload), Pollard boats (20 ft, 1100 lbs payload), a new 24-ft fireboat for Lake Houston, and zodiacs (swift-water capable, can be carried).
      • Ambulances can only handle 12 inches; replacement costs $334,000. Heavy apparatus max out at 20 inches; replacements cost ~$1 million each. During Harvey, HFD lost 5 heavy apparatus, over a dozen light vehicles, and capsized one boat.
      • Training is mandatory (Texas Boater Safety Act for crew born after 1993), annual (20 days on high water vehicles, 88 on boats), external (14 members sent to Oklahoma City for swift water tech at $14,000 plus travel, plus partnerships with Texas A&M Task Force One at no cost), and opportunity training (using dam releases, Slitterbond facilities at no cost). 308 members are trained in high water vehicles and 640 in boats.
    • Staffing: Technical Rescue Team has 63 members at 3 stations, 14 on shift daily with 7 staff. Water Strike Team (Marine Division) has 80 part-time members; 43 are swift-water trained. They are called in as needed under a 'FloodCon' activation system. Called-in members receive overtime; training on off-days is unpaid.
    • Future Needs: Increase drone utilization (5 drones purchased via discretionary funds recently used to find a lost kayaker), expand zero-to-24-inch response capabilities, and explore a multi-agency water strike team with Harris County Fire Marshal. HPD and HFD coordinate via shared marine channels; HPD has 19 vehicles that assist.
  • Councilmember Ramirez asked about the increase in 'assist citizen flooding' calls (47 in 2026 vs 25 in 2025). Captain Moreno explained that category includes both flood-related calls and non-flood issues like broken sprinklers, so there may be overlap. He also clarified that the 14 on-shift members are spread across three shifts, and the 7 staff include command personnel.
  • Councilmember Davis inquired about the Water Strike Team (80 part-time members, called in when needed) and confirmed that called-in members are paid overtime but training on off-days is unpaid. He highlighted that flooding events are more frequent than hurricanes, and the department's use of FloodCon ensures appropriate recall without unnecessary overtime.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee received the presentation and will schedule a future presentation from HPD on their high water rescue operations after the FIFA World Cup.
  • HFD is pursuing grants and using discretionary council funds to purchase additional high water vehicles, aiming for a smaller but faster and safer fleet.
  • No formal votes were taken; the meeting served as an informational session. The next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

This meeting to order. We are joined this morning by Councilmember Ramirez and Councilmember Davis. Thank you for being here. We're also joined by staff from Vice Chair Councilmember Jackson's office, Councilmember Tiffany Thomas' office, Councilmember Mary Nan Huffman's office, Councilmember Martinez's office, Mayor Pro Tem Castic Statum's office, Councilmember Carter's office, and Councilmember Alcorn's office. Okay, everyone. Great. We have one presentation today. We were supposed to have two, the Ethan program has been delayed. HFD will come back and give that presentation another time. But we are very excited to have Captain Bill Moreno to present about high water rescue operations from HFD, and we are happy to have HPD come and give an overview of their high water rescue operations and another month as well after after FIFA is done. So I think we are ready to start, Captain. Good morning. I think it's fitting that we have this conversation today where it is possibly have some flooding going on today. Across the state, there is going to be some flooding. Texas Task Force One is deploying, so we'll be deploying directly after this meeting. Just to give you a little overview of where we are, what we're doing, and who I am. So first off, I'm Captain Marino. I'm over the water, the Marine Division for the Houston Fire Department. My background with the city has been a firefighter in rescue, an engineer operator in rescue, and a captain and rescue. In addition to what I do for the city, I'm on Texas AM Task Force One. Made several deployments. After the 12 days of Harvey, I was on a C 17 flying to Puerto Rico for Irma and Maria. I was in Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Maria, Irma, Michael, Florence, Helene, and I did 86 days recently in Kerrville. So when I tell you that these recommendations are, it's not something that I think is just a good idea. It's something that I've seen works and is that we should be following. Okay. So just a little history lesson. What's going on in uh Houston with flooding and 1935? Uh we had a fire that we lost eight pumpers. To put that in today's perspective, that's 26 engines, 26 million dollars of fire trucks that are damaged. That's not including ladder trucks, ambulances, or any other heavy vehicles that we have that flooded out. Next slide. Currently, we continue to see climate emergencies. Uh in 2024, we had 27 climate emergencies, equaling about a billion dollars apiece. That Purges County and Houston is no different from that. Water rescues are probably some of the most dangerous rescues that we do. We see that going on right now, 400 times more likely to have an incident during that part. Over the years, 4,000 people drown each year. Trying to separate that between who's a rescuer and who's not a rescuer, it was kind of hard to do, but I found one study that said 10% of those calls of those drownings were would-be rescuers. The only area of safe refuge during a flood is out of the water, and that's where we're trying to pull people out of. Regardless of the settings, water's relentless, unpredictable, and powerful. We can't overswim, we can't overcome that, and that's why we push the emphasis on our members to swim. Something else that I think we've prided ourselves on is that we have a situation that we set up a training program that is not successful for everybody. We push our members to the extreme so that when that incident happens, we know that they're capable of doing this. That came from Travis Maher, who's a retired or the Sea Battalion chief from Austin Fire Department. Next slide. If you're not aware, FEMA's updated the flood maps that are coming out. Right now they're in draft form, and if you look at the maps with the updated form, it adds another 175,000 homes. That's not including the 170 government buildings that are going to be in the flood zone now. The increase, that 31% increase is now a 200 square miles additional to what we're already dealing with.

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