Propane retailers provide relief after major Texas floods

“Larry, did I hear you right?” shouted Tucker Perkins within a sea of Texas Propane Gas Association (TPGA) members attending a dinner during its flagship summer event.

The TPGA members were about to start the bidding in a charity auction to benefit its scholarship foundation, and Perkins, the president and CEO of the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), thought he heard Larry Baty say something special about another fundraiser to help Texas flood victims.

“Whatever the association [membership] donates, we’ll match it up to $15,000,” repeated Baty, the TPGA president from Cadenhead Servis Gas.

Before the full membership even had a chance to pledge an amount, the fund grew quickly because Perkins announced that PERC – on behalf of the 49 other states – would also join in the fundraising effort and match the total, up to $15,000, of member donations.

Applause rang out among the hundreds gathered in the ballroom in Galveston, Texas, at the Crossroads Propane Expo & Conference.

Perkins prefaced his own special announcement by recognizing the emotion evident on the faces and in the voices of those behind the microphone that night. What the state had experienced only about five weeks prior was a tragedy that’s difficult to comprehend.

“Our hearts went out to everybody on July 4,” said Perkins, recalling the day that deadly floods ravaged the Texas Hill Country, taking lives and livelihoods from so many. Kerr County, Texas, became a familiar location to the nation – but for the wrong reasons.

However, just as it did in 2024 when floods took a similar, devastating toll on parts of North Carolina, leaving impacts that are still felt today, the propane industry came together again.

“Clearly, in that event, you did,” Perkins said to the Texans.

In the wake of the natural disaster, the Hill Country Propane Emergency Response Team formed. Bill Van Hoy, executive director of the TPGA; Mark Riley, CEO of Heart of Texas Propane; and Mark Holloway, senior director of supply chain operations for AmeriGas, were essential in bringing the team together, according to the TPGA.

Holloway served as the team lead, and Riley offered up one of Heart of Texas Propane’s satellite offices as base camp. The Texas retailer’s service territory took a direct hit from the flooding, and its resources ultimately were pushed to the limit.

These industry leaders were joined by several other local TPGA members and volunteer marketers, big and small, who wanted to help in any way possible. That included providing physical resources and labor, helping companies, employees and customers in need. They also established a dedicated emergency response number for consumers, allowing the team to safely mitigate displaced propane tanks, some of which were leaking or damaged, and support both public safety and community recovery.

In time, the event proved that national, regional and local propane marketers can come together for the common good, Holloway shared with Texas Propane, the TPGA’s member magazine. Its article in the September issue also cited contributions from a variety of companies and organizations, including the Oklahoma Propane Gas Association, PERC and the Railroad Commission of Texas.

“The association’s first priority was checking on our members,” says Jackie Mason, deputy executive director for the TPGA. “For most of them, their first concern wasn’t their businesses, but helping their community and searching for the missing. The broader call for help didn’t come until later.”

After the announcements inside the ballroom in Galveston, donations began to arrive from TPGA members. They eventually reached the $15,000 that both PERC and the TPGA would match, raising a grand total of more than $45,000 for the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund.

This region won’t recover fully anytime soon. Anyone interested in contributing to the fund can do so by visiting the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country’s website.