Houston City Council District A officials say they want to update northwest Houston residents about state and local disaster plans now that hurricane season is under way.

District A Houston City Councilwoman Toni Lawrence is holding a town hall meeting focused on hurricane and flooding preparedness issues from 7-8-30 p.m. Wednesday in Spring Woods High School's auditorium, 2045 Gessner Road.

Houston's District A encompasses Spring Branch, and some neighborhoods north of U.S. 290 and west of Beltway 8 along Interstate 10.

Mike Howard, Lawrence's chief of staff, said it has been almost a year, but the devastating effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita are still fresh in many residents' minds.

He said the council member's office has arranged two speakers to talk about what the state and city have done in the aftermath to better prepare for a major storm. A third speaker will focus on flooding issues.

"We want to have good, knowledgeable people at the town hall meeting to answer residents' questions," Howard said. "We are hoping for a good turn-out."

Bill King, chairman of the Houston-Galveston Area Council's Hurricane Preparedness Task Force, said he would discuss findings of the Governor's Task Force on Evacuation, which was formed to learn from mistakes made during the Hurricane Rita evacuation effort.

The task force made recommendations to Texas Gov. Rick Perry in five areas. These include command and control, evacuation of people with special needs, fuel availability along evacuation routes, gridlock elimination and public awareness.

"One of the problems during Rita was that many people who evacuated did not need to evacuate," King said.

"Many could have waited and evaluated the situation. The decision to evacuate needs to be taken soberly."

Howard said Lt. Gary Scheibe, who works for the city of Houston's Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security, will talk about the city of Houston's disaster preparedness plan.

"He will tell us what the city plans to do if there is another Hurricane Katrina or Rita," Howard said.

Jim Thompson, president of the Turner, Collie & Braden engineering firm, will explain why it floods in the Houston area, Howard said.

Al Russell, Spring Branch resident and volunteer coordinator for the District A Emergency Task Force, urged residents to attend.

"Where you are evacuating or sheltering in place, preparedness is the name of the game," Russell said.

AT A GLANCE

What: Hurricane/Flooding town hall meeting
Why: To discuss what state and local officials have done to better prepare for a major storm, and flooding issues
When: 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Spring Woods High School, 2045 Gessner Road
Details: Meeting is open to the public
Info: Call 713-247-2010