By King H.C.R. No. 46 74R4180 MPC-D CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The National Weather Service is in the process of 1-2 replacing its outdated weather survival radar system with Next 1-3 Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), the latest in weather radar 1-4 technology, but with its decision to close the Hondo radar site and 1-5 place NEXRAD in the New Braunfels area, it is jeopardizing the 1-6 safety of those Texans who live along the Texas-Mexico border 1-7 between Del Rio and Laredo; and 1-8 WHEREAS, NEXRAD, which operates on Doppler technology, is 1-9 capable of monitoring precipitation as well as tracking potentially 1-10 dangerous air movements, enabling scientists to predict with 1-11 greater accuracy the likelihood of violent weather and more 1-12 importantly, providing scientists added lead time to notify the 1-13 public of potential danger; and 1-14 WHEREAS, Historically a site for severe storm activity, the 1-15 southwestern region of the state is greatly affected by the 1-16 ultimate location of the region's NEXRAD facility; consolidation of 1-17 current facilities from Austin, Hondo, and San Antonio to a new 1-18 site near New Braunfels as the National Weather Service has 1-19 proposed will deny the citizens who live between Del Rio and Laredo 1-20 the extensive overlapping coverage that is currently available to 1-21 citizens throughout the rest of the state and could render the 1-22 entire region defenseless should its single radar facility be 1-23 disabled; and 1-24 WHEREAS, With a major fiber-optic cable service already in 2-1 place, the city of Hondo possesses the special technology necessary 2-2 to support NEXRAD, and placement of this radar in Hondo would 2-3 provide the extra layer of coverage necessary to protect this key 2-4 area from the perils of unforeseen violent weather; and 2-5 WHEREAS, The major storm that struck Bexar County on May 5, 2-6 1983, catching most weather forecasters off guard and resulting in 2-7 the death of three people, originated in the hills across the 2-8 border in Mexico and came through the region where the gap of 2-9 single coverage will be in the current National Weather Service 2-10 plan for the NEXRAD system; and 2-11 WHEREAS, A recent Florida State University study determined 2-12 that East Texas, which has single Doppler radar coverage like that 2-13 found in the West Texas-Mexico border region, has inadequate radar 2-14 coverage; upgrading the Hondo weather radar to Doppler would 2-15 provide double coverage to an area that is as large or larger than 2-16 the East Texas region referenced by the Florida State University 2-17 study; and 2-18 WHEREAS, It is imperative that the National Weather Service 2-19 reconsider its NEXRAD system coverage along the border for the 2-20 safety of thousands of citizens who live in the southwestern region 2-21 of Texas; now, therefore, be it 2-22 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-23 hereby urge the Congress of the United States to encourage the 2-24 National Weather Service to upgrade the existing weather radar in 2-25 Hondo to the NEXRAD system for the protection of the lives and 2-26 property of those who reside in the southwestern region of Texas; 2-27 and, be it further 3-1 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 3-2 copies of this resolution to the National Weather Service, to the 3-3 speaker of the house of representatives and president of the senate 3-4 of the United States Congress, and to all members of the Texas 3-5 delegation to the congress with the request that it be officially 3-6 entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress 3-7 of the United States of America.