Kerr County Officials Grilled Over Deadly Flood Response Failures

Scathing Criticism of Kerr County Leadership

• 🎯 Texas lawmakers and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick heavily criticized Kerr County officials for their absence during the deadly July 4th floods.
• ⚠️ Officials accused of being "nowhere to be found" when raging floodwaters hit, delaying crucial response efforts.

Official Availability During the Flood

• 🛌 Kerr County's Emergency Management Coordinator, William Thomas, was reportedly sick in bed when the flooding began.
• 😴 Sheriff Larry Letha stated he arrived at the sheriff's office around 5:00 a.m., while County Judge Rob Kelly was at Lake Travis with family.
• 🗣️ Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick directly accused Judge Kelly of being MIA the entire day.

Delays in Emergency Alerts

• ⏳ A plea to send a Code Red emergency alert to residents in Hunt came in at 4:22 a.m., but it took nearly 40 minutes to get approval.
• 🚨 The Code Red alert was not sent out until 5:01 a.m., indicating a significant delay in warning those in danger.

Upper Guadalupe River Authority Scrutiny

• 🌊 Lawmakers also questioned the Upper Guadalupe River Authority for failing to implement a flood detection system despite having funds in their budget.
• 🤷 Officials stated they had "no idea of a tsunami-like event," but the National Weather Service had issued multiple escalating flood warnings that morning.

Future Warning Systems

• 🔊 Kurville's mayor expressed a desire to install a warning system by next summer, hoping for state funding.
• ❓ County officials were uncertain if existing warning sirens, had they been in place, would have prevented loss of life.