AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Despite years of warning and recommendations in the past, a new report from the Austin city auditor's office highlights several ways that the city was unprepared in its response to February's winter storm.
A draft of the report was released on Monday, ahead of its presentation to the City Council's Audit and Finance Committee on Wednesday.
"The City was unprepared to respond to Winter Storm Uri largely because the City did not adequately anticipate or plan for a widespread or severe winter storm," reads a summary of the draft report.
The report highlighted several areas in which the city failed to respond to citizen needs, but also identified an overarching flawed city-wide strategy for such situations.
"While the storm was exceptionally severe, the city’s lack of preparedness for Winter Storm Uri led to a less effective and disorganized response. Additionally, the city has not implemented many past recommendations that may have improved its response to the storm, and has not historically prioritized disaster preparedness or community resilience," the report states.
The report is the latest in a series of after-action reports looking back at the city's response to February's brutal winter storm. The auditor's office notes that the report looks only at the city's response, and doesn't take into account the response or technical operations from other entities including ERCOT, Austin Water, or Austin Energy.
“We have received the Auditor’s report, which supports the findings of our own After-Action reports published last week," a city spokesperson said in a statement. "As we said just a few days ago, the City of Austin, like the state of Texas, was unprepared for a historic natural disaster layered on top of an international public health crisis. But we came together as a community to help each other. With every unprecedented event like this, there are lessons to be learned about our preparation, planning and response. We intend to learn those lessons and make improvements, and many of those improvements are already underway."