Disaster response coordinator leads TDI response to July 4 Central Texas floods

In the aftermath of the July 4th Flood Disaster, an exhausted woman arrived at the Family Assistance Center (FAC) in Kerrville seeking support after losing family and narrowly escaping the fast-rising flood waters with her life.

At the FAC, she found a team of grief counselors, government agencies, and aid organizations ready to help.

There she could replace her lost Driver License at the Department of Motor Vehicles booth, get a new Social Security card from Social Security Administration staff, and meet with Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) disaster assistance volunteers who shared tips on locating insurance policies and helped guide her through the claims process.

Training and scheduling TDI volunteers for disaster response and recovery are just two ways TDI Disaster Response Coordinator Andrew Davis helps Texas prepare and respond to natural disasters like hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, and flash floods.

“We have very dedicated staff that will help no matter what,” Andrew said. “Once the volunteer schedule was set, none of the volunteers backed out.”

The FAC is a special resource center for those who’ve lost loved ones in a disaster. After the July 4th Flood Disaster, the Kerrville FAC was set up in a school.

There, survivors were served meals, met with counselors, and accessed services from state agencies. Grief therapy dogs and cats were also available to ease frayed nerves.

“It was a very calm, soothing environment. They really did a great job,” Andrew said.

For those who lost property, seven Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) across Central Texas offered help. Affected Texans could meet with TDI volunteers to get assistance filing insurance claims, file a claim with FEMA, and talk to other federal and state agencies.

Andrew managed 30 TDI volunteers who were deployed to the FAC and DRCs for 12 hours a day, seven days a week during the 13-week s of the post-flood deployment.

Besides staffing the resource centers, Andrew also worked with the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to help identify insurance carriers for the roughly 100 vehicles pulled from the Guadalupe River. The Texas Department of Public Safety identified owners using VIN numbers, then passed those names along to TDEM to find the insurers.

The July 4th Flood Disaster marked the second-longest ever TDI deployment at the State Operations Center (SOC) in Austin – surpassed only by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The SOC is a 24-hour communications command center operated by TDEM during disasters. Once activated, it monitors threats, provides information to local, state, and federal authorities, and coordinates assistance requests from local governments.

Andrew spearheads TDI’s disaster response. A seasoned TDI staffer with seven years of service – including six years as a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) volunteer – he represents the agency at the SOC, oversees volunteer training and scheduling, and keeps a close eye on severe weather developments.

His current role aligns perfectly with a passion for weather that started during his youth in Houston, where he spent a lot of time tracking hurricanes.

“I’m a weather fanatic – always have been,” he said. “This is the next best thing to being a forecaster.”

Whenever severe weather looms, Andrew joins daily calls with TDEM and the National Weather Service. He listens closely and sends detailed summaries of the forecast and available state resources to managers, colleagues in the Consumer Protection Division, and TDI disaster duty volunteers.

“I love what I do. Every day is something different,” Andrew said. “I’m surrounded by a talented team and I get to work with staff from all over TDI.”