Spring Fire Department Assistant Chief Robert Logan spoke at the Natural Disasters Expo in Houston, sharing what local firefighters learned from Hurricane Harvey.
Logan and Atascocita Fire Chief Mike Mulligan co-presented a keynote session called "Lessons from the Frontline" at the two-day conference, held Wednesday, Oct. 14, and Thursday, Oct. 15, at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The Spring Fire Department said the pair discussed how Spring and Atascocita firefighters handled emergency calls during what the department called "the worst flooding in our area's history."
The expo, now in its fifth year, brings together first responders, government agencies and disaster-preparedness professionals. It returned to Houston for the 2026 edition, according to the event's website.
Mulligan's department covers a 25-square-mile area serving 75,000 to 90,000 residents in unincorporated northeast Harris County. In a pre-conference interview published by JD Supra, Mulligan said that before Harvey, his department had limited high-water experience and lacked boats and swift-water rescue capability. The department added equipment and updated its planning after earlier floods, he said, while still maintaining normal EMS call volume during Harvey.
Mulligan also described political and resource-prioritization challenges during the storm. He cited the unexpected arrival of volunteer rescue groups like the Cajun Navy and an EMS resource dispute that led to extended after-action discussions.
Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in August 2017 with sustained winds of 130 mph. The damage was staggering. Parts of eastern Texas received more than 40 inches of rain over four days. The flooding displaced more than 30,000 people and prompted more than 17,000 rescues. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimated total damage at $125 billion.
Spring sits in north Harris County, one of the hardest-hit regions during the storm. The department posted photos from the expo session on its social media accounts Friday, Oct. 16. Mulligan told JD Supra he attended the broader conference to learn how emergency response connects to downstream recovery and mitigation efforts.
