The audio gives a clearer picture of what first responders were faced in the early morning hours as flood waters began to surge in the Texas Hill Country.
KERR COUNTY, Texas — New recorded radio audio from the early hours of July 4 show what first responders were dealing with as torrential rain led to massive flooding and more than 100 deaths in Kerr County.
As of Monday, July 15 Kerr County officials believe 107 people died in that flood, which includes 37 children. The county is reporting more than 1,500 rescues.
Reporters have repeatedly asked the Kerr County sheriff, the Kerrville city manager and other officials to explain what was happening in those first few hours.
On July 8, Sheriff Larry Leitha said: “My understanding is we are in the process of putting a timeline. That’s going to take a little bit of time. As I’ve told you several times. That is not my priority at this time.”
Now KENS 5 has audio which gives a clearer picture of what first responders were dealing with. Expert radio operator and former Kerr County IT Director John Trolinger recorded radio broadcasts from multiple county sources that morning. He started recording just before 3:30 a.m.
Here are just a few of those calls:
3:27 a.m.: A firefighter reports that the Guadalupe River is starting to rise and one of the local roads is now impassible.
3:35 a.m.: A Hunt VFD firefighter gets a call for a water rescue after a persons house flooded.
3:39 a.m.: A firefighter tells the dispatcher the the water is coming up and that they need to “tone out” responders in Ingram and have them start clearing a local RV park. Dispatcher starts to get multiple calls from people living off Highway 39 whose houses have been flooded.
4:04 a.m.: A first responder states “All of our members right now are having trouble getting out anywhere. The water is very high and it’s very risky.”
4:22 a.m.: A firefighter askes dispatch to send out a CodeRed Alert. The county is not able to to do so at that time.
The responder asks “Is there any way we could send a CodeRed out to our hunt residents asking them to find higher ground or stay home?”
“We have to get that approved with our supervisor,” the dispatcher responds.
Trolinger, who previously worked at the county, told KENS 5 it was protocol to get a supervisor to approve the CodeRed but a supervisor should have been immediately available on the phone.
4:25 a.m.: Water rescue teams with boats are moving into the county but it seemed no one in the county was available to coordinate them. This includes Texas Strike Team 1.
“Do we have a staging point for the water rescue team?” one person asks.
“We have not been notified,” said the dispatcher.
Texas Strike Team 1 sets up in a local Dominos parking lot.
4:35 a.m.: Ingram Fire reports “we have children trapped down below Howdies RV park.” Local units immediately respond.
As the flooding escalated, the Guadalupe River at hunt went from around 8 feet to more than 30 feet around this time. Responders started to find some flooding victims were out of their reach, though the are able to rescue others.
4:48 a.m.: Responder states, “We have an RV floating in the river with people in it right now.” He later said “The RV that we were trying to keep up with hit a tree and came apart.”
4:55 a.m.: Responder states, “We are running down the river following people in the water.”
4:55 a.m.: Camp La Junta calls in and reports 36 children caught in the water.
4:47 a.m.: Responder reports that Texas Strike Team 1 is stuck at the Dominoes where they stopped and can’t get out. “We need those boats,” one responder states.
5:02 a.m.: Responder states, “Be advised we are getting multiple reports at the Rowland address. People are getting swept away.”
Another responder states, “The river is completely swollen and there is a car with occupants in it floating down the river.”
Yet another responder states, “We have another RV going down the river with people on board.”
5:10 a.m.: Responder asks Kerrville Fire Department to send an EMS unit to City West Church to treat people who have been rescued from the water.
511 a.m.: Responder reports pulling a woman out of the water. He provides a location and ask for medical attention.
5:32 a.m.: Another rescue team arrives in Kerr County and asks who is in command. The dispatcher tells the team they don’t have any incident command.
“Can you advise who is running command?” the team asked. “Sir, we don’t have an incident command right now,” dispatch responded.
The team rescue team continued to alert other responders to their presence. Dispatch gave them a location to help get children out of the water.
5:57 a.m.: A responder asks if there is a designated reunification point for patients and their families. Another responder suggests setting up at City West Church in Ingram.
Over the next hours, first responders find places to regroup and coordinate resources amount themselves.
While Kerr County leaders are authorized to establish an Emergency Operations Center (EOC), KENS 5 didn’t hear the EOC referenced until an hour later.
6:53 a.m.: A responder asks “What’s the status of the EOC?” Another responder replies, “Running it here at the Kerrville Police Department. I will confirm that.”
KENS 5 is still investigating to find out when the Emergency Operation Center was operational and when the Texas Department of Emergency Management set up their command center.