AUSTIN, Texas, April 22 (UPI) -- Texas officials are close to selecting a single commander to lead a regional response to catastrophes, including hurricanes.
Mayors and county judges within a 13-county region chose a 15-member committee this week to manage disasters, instead of a picking a single commander, a plan Gov. Rick Perry called "fraught with danger."
Perry issued an executive order last month stating that all 150 mayors and county judges in the greater Houston region should vote on a single commander to be in charge of all catastrophes, the Houston Chronicle reported.
This proved an especially difficult process because of lingering divides in the wake of the Hurricane Rita evacuation -- which have left some coastal county officials upset that residents were bogged down in Harris County traffic.
Texas officials have said they absolutely must have a single person before May 3, when Texas will conduct a statewide hurricane drill that will require regional cooperation. Hurricane season begins on June 1.
