Texas voters easily approved a referendum Tuesday that will provide billions of dollars for flood-control projects — as well as water supply needs — four months after devastating floods killed at least 135 people in the state, including children at summer camp.
Proposition 4 dedicates $1 billion annually for the next 20 years to pay for water and flood infrastructure. It passed with 70.5 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns from the secretary of state’s office.
Legislation calling for the ballot referendum was approved by state lawmakers in the spring, but the need for flood control was underscored by deadly July 4 floods in the Texas Hill Country.
A string of severe thunderstorms inundated Kerr County, creating a wall of water that washed away buildings, trees and cars along the Guadalupe River. Twenty-seven of the dead were campers or staffers at a Christian summer camp for girls.
