Mayor Pete Saenz’s Declaration of Disaster for the significant losses in the violent May 21 wind and rain event could bring restoration relief in low interest loans to uninsured property owners and small businesses.
The Declaration, which was announced at a Wednesday afternoon press conference at City Hall, has been sent to the office of Governor Greg Abbott.
According to Fire Chief Steve Landin, once the Governor’s office concurs that Laredo’s damages meet the $900,000 threshold for a declaration of disaster, a state team will visit Laredo to assess losses of private, commercial, and City-owned property.
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Solid Waste crews have mobilized to remove all fallen branches and debris resulting from the May 21 storm.
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A Parks and Leisure crew takes a break from the heat and humidity before donning their safety hats to continue moving the metal roof panels that blew off the concession stand at the Fr. McNaboe Little League field.
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Collapsed and ripped away fences were a common sight in neighborhoods along the Mines Road.
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Collapsed and ripped away fences were a common sight in neighborhoods along the Mines Road.
Landin, who is also the City’s Emergency Management Coordinator, said that estimates of million dollar damages to the World Trade Bridge and estimated damages of $3 million in structural damage and loss of contents at a private business push the City’s losses well into $5 million.
“All in all, it’s a rough number, and much of the damage is to insured property. Once the GSA (General Services Administration) arrives at damages at the World Trade Bridge, we’ll have a better number,” he said, adding, “And once the state gets here, the numbers become more solid.”
He said it is important that all Laredoans who sustained property damage — insured or uninsured, residential or commercial — report their losses to the City by calling 311 so that the data can be shared with the state. “We would like to factor in business interruption losses as well as losses to freight forwarders resulting from delays in having to move goods on the Colombia Solidarity Bridge rather than the more expeditious World Trade Bridge. The 311 list is a working list the state can use. The data can help a neighbor and the community,” he said.
Landin said that the City has received more than 50 calls from property owners reporting damages. “We have two teams that respond, one for homes and one for commercial and multi-family dwellings. Arturo García and his staff at Community Development go to the residences, take pictures, and begin communication. Ramon Chavez and his staff at the Building Department do the same for businesses that call,” he said.
The Straight Line Storm
The Chief said he received a National Weather Service (NWS) alert at 3:15 p.m. for severe weather moving northeasterly nine miles from the Colombia Solidarity Bridge.
At 3:58 p.m. he was alerted about a different storm approaching Laredo. Twenty-seven minutes later, at 4:25, a “straight line” storm began to batter North Laredo with winds clocked at 70 to 80 mph and pounding rainfall that would drop 4 inches of moisture in 90 minutes.
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This is the May 21 storm moving into the area, showing 60+ mph winds at 14,000' (radar beam passes 14,000' above ground when it reaches Laredo from Corpus Christi radar). (Courtesy Heatwave Berler)
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An image of the May 21 storm as it exited showing the top of the storm at 62,000' altitude. (Courtesy Heatwave Berler)
“I was informed by radio from Fire Station Nine that they had possibly been hit by a tornado,” he recounted. He added that a firefighter who sat outside on the tailgate of a truck watched the rapid shifts in the cloud cover, but he quickly jumped into a compartment of one of the fire trucks just before the storm hit the station with a force that tore the metal roof off the bays that house the fire trucks. “The storm had just hit the World Trade Bridge and moved over the area between it and the fire station. Employees at the World Trade Bridge reported seeing funnel clouds. The firefighter may have observed that the station was in the vortex of the storm,” he said.
Landin said that communication with emergency responders on scene right after the storm arrived, “gave us a quickly expanding snapshot of the areas that had been hit the hardest.”
Laredoans who happened to be in transit when the storm arrived saw many of the City’s streets, underpasses, and highway access roads transformed into roiling torrents of muddy brown water that in some places dislodged slabs of asphalt from road base. Those who hunkered down at home to wait out the storm witnessed trees shredded like kindling, uprooted, or broken; roofs lifted from houses; and the airborne yard furniture, trash bins, and cedar fences. Along the Mines Road, billboards, signs, and metal flagpoles crumpled and bent in the wind.
27 Minutes
Landin elaborated on what he was able to do in the scant 27 minutes ahead of the storm. “We mobilized to make sure all emergency responders were prepared. The Traffic Department and Public Works moved to place barricades at intersections known to flood. As I do with all weather threats, I notified the City manager, the mayor, council members, assistant fire chiefs, the police chief, the emergency management team, hospitals, and the Red Cross. They in turn sent it to their contacts, and the media was notified,” he said.
The chief said he did not activate the Emergency Operating Center, a call which he said would have put people at risk at the height of the storm as they left their homes or were left stranded by high water.
He noted that the “straight line” winds that roared through the City could have easily killed people with flying debris.
“We waited until the strongest rings of he storm tapered back, and then immediately activated the protocol for these types of events — we open up and go into storm mode, which we call Operation Red Storm. We are now in swift water rescue mode and search and rescue mode. We are now in constant communication with AEP about power lines, with the Police Department, Traffic and Public Works, and the hospitals,” Landin said.
Mayor Saenz said that the immediate mobilization of City departments in response to 3-1-1 and 9-1-1 calls about flooded roads and property damages allowed City staff to see firsthand the extent of damages throughout the actual storm event on Sunday evening. “I, too, was able to tour the hardest hit parts of the City,” the Mayor reported.
Were we prepared?
Asked had there been more time, what more could have been done to ensure the safety of Laredoans, Landin responded, “I have a strong level of confidence that we were as prepared as we could be, and that no matter how prepared you are, you are never going to know exactly where a storm like this is going to land or hit.”
Mayor Saenz said he believes we were prepared. “We did well and responded accordingly, deploying a number of departments into the field, especially our emergency personnel,” he said.
Landin added, “One of the questions I keep asking myself, is that if the storm chasers were here, what did they know that the City did not know? There are a lot of different storm chasing groups that capture video and pictures as a storm develops or explodes over a community.”
Landin said the afternoon storm was far different from an initial early morning NWS advisory of the “slight risk” for severe weather.
At about 4 p.m. the advisories were precisely in sync with the movement of a dark, changing sky that portended menace and danger.
SBA in Laredo
Landin noted that Interim City Manager Horacio de Leon is having a location prepared for Laredoans to meet with representatives of the Small Business Administration (SBA).
“Uninsured property owners can have SBA representatives look at their property and determine if they qualify for a long-term, low-interest loan. This is a win-win proposition for those who have no means and who cannot qualify for a traditional loan,” he continued.
Landin said the SBA would be reaching out to business owners for small business loans at low interest rates “to help them get on their feet.”
City Resources
He noted that the City’s Community Development Department could also be a resource for property owners who live in sub-standard housing.
“There are some things we cannot do. We cannot fix damaged private for-profit businesses that were damaged, like the sub-standard Dell Wood apartments. The apartment complex owner’s insurance has been contacted, and it is up to them to make repairs for the residents,” he said
Storm’s Impacts Are Many
Landin said the impact of Sunday’s storm goes beyond water and wind damage. “The loss of a child’s life was certainly the greatest of them,” he said, adding, “There are psychological damages that accompany the losses to a home and property. The comforts of home change with the post-flooding impact of the task and the cost of cleaning and repairing. Flooding is like an upheaval. In some cases, property owners are now living with the added hazards of rodents and mosquitoes.”
According to AEP, over 13,000 Laredoans were without power after the first late afternoon surge of the storm. Local AEP crews and out of town crews and contractors worked through the night and all of Monday to repair downed power lines and 50 damaged distribution poles. By 11:15 p.m. Monday night, service had been restored to all but 300 homes.
Four days after the storm, the cityscape bears the scars of the fury of the tormenta that left a wide swath of losses. City Solid Waste crews have worked long days to pick up curbside piles of tree branches, debris, and storm damaged items.
U.S. Customs brokers, international freight forwarders, and truckers are living with long lines to access the gridlocked Colombia Solidarity Bridge.
Other city crews continue to assess damages to City owned buildings and public facilities. Of note:
- Fire Station #9, 11210 Mines Road; metal roof blown off bay area that houses fire trucks.
- Fasken Library and Fasken Community Center, 15201 Cerralvo Drive; roof panels blown off, water damage to interior ceiling and floor.
- Public Works/Traffic Safety Departments, 5512 Thomas Street; water damage.
- Utilities Main office building, 5816 Daugherty; water damage inside offices, ceiling and south side of the building.
- Bartlett Soccer Complex, 602 Thomas; flooding, damage to bathroom roof.
- World Trade Bridge, 11601 FM 1472 (Mines Road)
Federal Facility, Import Lot –AC units ripped from roof, roof sections blown off, water damage, fence damage, phone lines.
Inspection area – roof damage.
Primary lanes – intake lane booths water damage, AC damage.
Kennels – roofs torn off, window damage to two canine vehicles.
Administration – roof, walls and floors damaged by water.
Gantry (Non obtrusive imaging system) – Structural damage.Outbound – canopy blown away, loss of fans, side panel, AC unit to portable buildings, water damage. - Colombia Solidarity Bridge; roof leaks and large amounts of sediment.
- Northwest Health Promotion Center (WIC clinic), 10224 Atlanta Drive; water damage.
- Fire station #8 on Del Mar; damage to overhead doors
- Unitrade Stadium; damage to field and bullpens, water damage to the ceiling and floor of the clubhouse.
- Recycling center at the landfill; damage to warehouse wall.
- Recycling drop off center on McPherson; damage to metal roof canopy.
- Laredo Animal Care facility on Maher; damage to metal roof canopy and extreme damage to portable buildings.
- Joe A. Guerra Public Library; tower panel blown off
- The McKendrick-Ochoa-Salinas Public Library in South Laredo; damage to the interior
- Father McNaboe Park; ripped shade covers, felled lamp posts, sections of the ball park concession stand roof blown off, wind-mangled bleachers.
