KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Two top leaders in a rural Texas county were asleep and a third was out of town in the initial hours of a catastrophic flood that came barreling through the region, causing widespread destruction and killing more than 130 people earlier this month.
Kerr County's sheriff and its emergency management director both acknowledged Thursday during a legislative hearing that they were asleep in the early morning hours of July 4, even after emergency calls were coming into county dispatchers and it became apparent that a major flood event was unfolding. Moreover, Judge Rob Kelly, the top executive of Kerr County, was out of town on the day of the flood.
Their testimony, which came during a joint House and Senate panel of lawmakers who visited the hard-hit Texas Hill Country, was the first indication of the whereabouts of the trio of men who were charged with preparing for the impending weather and dispatching resources to rescue those affected. It also revealed a lack of on-duty leadership in the key initial moments of the flooding that killed at least 136 people, including 27 youths and counselors at an all-girls camp.
Public records requested by The Associated Press seeking their communications, schedules and other materials that could shed light on the flooding response have been rejected or remain pending, and the three have not replied to repeated interview requests.
County leaders were asleep, out of town
William “Dub” Thomas, Kerr County's emergency management coordinator, told lawmakers that he was sick the day before the flooding occurred and missed two calls with Texas Emergency Management officials. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha and Thomas both acknowledged being asleep as a crisis was unfolding.
Kelly, who holds a position in Texas that functions as the county’s chief executive officer, testified that he was out of town at Lake Travis, located near Austin about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, on the morning of the flood and woke up around 5:30 a.m.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick expressed his frustration.
“I’m not pointing a finger. I’m not blaming you. I just want to set the record straight," he said in comments directed toward Kelly, prompting applause from those in the audience. "Everyone was here that day working their ass off, and you were nowhere to be found.”
Thomas said that on the morning of July 4, he was first awakened by his wife around 5:30 a.m., about two hours after emergency rescue operations were underway, and quickly drove to the sheriff’s office.
“There was no visible flooding on my drive into the office, but it quickly became clear that the situation was escalating,” he said.
Officials say better warning needed
In other testimony, local officials said they needed but lacked an updated warning system, when flash flooding swept away homes and vehicles and left families begging for rescue on the roofs of their homes earlier this month.
Others who testified Thursday before an audience of hundreds of people — some who wore green ribbons in memory of the victims — called for urgent improvements for better flood warnings and flood mitigation.
Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system, repeatedly failing to secure roughly $1 million for a project to better protect those who spend time along the Guadalupe River, the AP previously reported. The plan, which would have installed flood-monitoring equipment near Camp Mystic, cost about as much as the county spends on courthouse security every two years, or 1.5% of its annual budget.
Kelly said residents had virtually no warning of the impending weather catastrophe until it was too late.
“We need stronger communications and better broadband so we can communicate better,” he said, adding that poor cell service did not help those along the river. “What we experienced on July 4 was sudden, violent and overwhelming.”
Sheriff lays out timeline
Leitha presented a timeline of events to lawmakers and said emergency responders realized they had an “all-hands-on-deck” situation as early as 3:30 a.m., when dispatchers received a call from a family stranded on their roof requesting air evacuation. But Leitha acknowledged that he was not alerted of the flooding until about an hour later, at around 4:20 a.m.
Rep. Ann Johnson, a Democrat from Houston, asked Leitha whether the county should have a protocol in place for when three of the top county officials are not available during an emergency.
“Yes, ma'am, we can look at that real hard,” Leitha said. “Yes, I can look and maybe they can call me earlier.”
Local residents caught off guard
Residents along the Guadalupe River have said they were caught off guard and had no warning when rainfall struck. Kerr County does not have a warning system along the river after several missed opportunities by state and local agencies to finance one.
The hearing comes as authorities have begun publicly releasing records and audio — including 911 calls — that have provided new glimpses into the escalating danger and chaos in the early hours of the July Fourth holiday. They include panicked and confused messages from residents caught in trees as well as families fleeing with children from homes with water creeping up to the knees.
“People are dying,” one woman tells a 911 operator in call logs released by nearby Kendall County. She says she had a young relative at a church camp in Kerr County who was stranded along with his classmates because of the high waters.
“I don’t want them to get stuck in a low-water crossing. And what are they going to do? They have like 30 kids," the woman says.
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Lathan is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.
Nadia Lathan And Sean Murphy, The Associated Press
