AUSTIN, Texas — City leaders and neighbors who live in Austin's eastern crescent are calling for the city manager to involve the community in planning for the next disaster.
"The City should be prepared to assist their citizens and residents, not the community and yet that's what we were doing, and the City responded very late," AISD Support Specialist Sonia Hernández.
During the historic winter storm, Sonia Hernandez said she felt hopeless, with no electricity for more than two weeks. The AISD Parent Support Specialist at Palm Elementary said she couldn't help her students.
"I was trying to, "said Hernández. "I have my roster where all my parents are but we didn't have any service."
"Mi Familia frío, ninos con frío, todos nosotros con frío," Mirna Rodríguez said.
On the other hand, Rodríguez's East Austin home lost electricity for only a few hours. She took in three families. Once the City opened warming centers, she volunteered at Mendez Middle School, distributing water and food.
"If all of our schools ... all of our schools were prepared, our community that were stuck here could have walked to Blazier, could have walked to Palm, " Hernández said. "Blazier just has the new building, the Blazier Relief Center but we couldn't because we didn't have any light."
The Austin City Council approved a resolution to start the process of choosing emergency shelters or resilience hubs, where people could go for help during future disasters.
Monica Guzman with Go Austin Vamos Austin, a coalition of East Austin residents and community leaders, said the community needs to be part of the conversation to make sure their needs are met. The city manager is expected to present a plan and budget for six resilience hubs in June.
You can find their full list of request here.
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