Session In-Depth: Bastrop's recovery

BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) - As much as $7.2 million will likely be allocated to help the Bastrop area recovery from the 2011 wildfires, state Sen. Kirk Watson said on Sunday's edition of KXAN's "In Session, In-Depth.

"My goal is to get funding in (the second supplemental appropriations bill) that will help with the recovery effort," Watson said, adding that he is confident that the chairman of the Legislature's budget-writing committees see the need for state aid. "We've got everybody's attention."

Watson, an Austin Democrat whose Senate district stretches east to Bastrop County, said the fires that started burning in Bastrop over Labor Day weekend in 2011 were the worst in the state's history in terms of lost property.

More than 1,500 homes were destroyed by the flames and Bastrop State Park was heavily damaged. The recovery effort is still not complete.

Money allocated by the Legislature could also be matched by federal dollars, Watson said.

"This is a high priority for me," he said. "It needs to be."

Click on the video box above this report for KXAN political reporter Josh Hinkle's full three-part interview with Watson and for the round-table discussion from Bastrop.