The newly released 911 recordings from Kerr County’s July flood reveal dispatchers’ extraordinary efforts managing 435 calls within six hours.
KERR COUNTY, Texas — On Friday, KENS 5 obtained newly released 911 recordings from the July 4 flooding disaster in Kerr County. While the recordings show the tragic reality of what happened, they also reveal the difficult and demanding work of the dispatchers who answered those calls.
Fielding hundreds of calls were just a handful of telecommunicators. At many points, they had to guide people in danger through the chaos.
According to Kerrville Police Chief Chris McCall, at 2:52 a.m. July 4, only two people were staffed at the Kerrville Police 911 Center. That is when a surge of calls began coming in.
Over the next six hours, a small group of dispatchers would answer 435 calls, McCall said.
However, one dispatcher at 5:12 a.m. told a caller reporting flooded homes in Ingram, “We’ve taken over 400 calls in the last hour.”
Some callers found themselves stuck inside their homes as the water rose. Others were trying to figure out an escape route before it was too late.
“The flood is coming in fast and rapid, and people are getting washed away. You need to get to higher ground,” one dispatcher told a caller at 4:45 a.m.
In many cases, the raging river was too dangerous for first responders to reach victims at the time of the calls.
Many of the victims were in Hunt. Just before 5 a.m., a dispatcher told a caller in distress, “OK, I need you to take a deep breath. Everything is going to be OK. We’ve got people headed that way to come get y’all out, OK?”
Several calls came in from Camp La Junta, where all campers and staff members survived.
However, at one point, there was real fear there could be deaths. A woman told the dispatcher, “We are totally flooded. We’ve got cabins that are starting to fill up. What do we do?”
The dispatcher answered quickly and without hesitation: “OK, get to the highest point at the camp that y’all can. Everybody needs to evacuate to that highest point. And when you get there, go ahead and start doing a head count. Make sure you have everybody.”
Many callers were in tears, pleading for help. In Ingram, a woman called worried her neighbors could not get to safety.
The dispatcher said, “I need you to take a deep breath. The water is coming in quick and coming in a lot faster than anybody anticipated. We do have everybody en route, including boat rescues, OK?”
Kerrville Police Chief McCall recognized the hard work of each dispatcher in a video he posted on social media about the release of the 911 calls.
He emphasized how difficult it was for each dispatcher to hang up one call and move immediately to the next.
“I’m immensely proud of our telecommunications operators. These public safety team members showed incredible perseverance as they faced high call volumes and did their best to provide assistance and comfort to every caller,” McCall said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Our journalists are reviewing audio files of 911 calls from the morning of the deadly Kerrville floods that have been released by Kerr County officials. The recordings are disturbing. They capture real-time fear and confusion as the floodwaters rose. We are publishing limited portions of these recordings because they offer important insight into how the disaster unfolded and how emergency crews responded.