ARANSAS PASS, Tx — With hurricane season just three days away, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) held its annual storm wall drill in Aransas Pass on Thursday.
The city has a levee system on its east side to protect it from hurricanes, but there's an opening where Highway 361 connects. TxDOT uses a surge wall to close this gap during severe weather events.
The storm wall is 80-feet wide and 10-feet tall and spans five lanes of Highway 361. It serves as a critical component in the city's hurricane defense infrastructure.
This protective measure is just one part of a three-part system TxDOT uses to guard against hurricanes.
"If a hurricane threatens we can contra-flow US 77 and Interstate 37 so that all the lanes will be evacuated," Rickey Dailey, public information officer for TxDOT, said.
The storm wall drill, which started Thursday morning, was a success.
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