Newly obtained records shed light into what Kerrville officials were doing as flooding started.
KERRVILLE, Texas — It was 5:10 a.m. on July Fourth. The Guadalupe River at Hunt had risen to 37 feet and a massive wall of water was headed towards Ingram and then Kerrville.
What did Kerrville’s leaders do and when did they do it?
Now, thanks to documents obtained through an open records request, KENS 5 has a better view of when Kerrville leadership started taking action.
The first text KENS 5 found was at 5:45 a.m. That’s when Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice, who has repeatedly claimed he was up jogging in a park early that morning, contacted Kerrville City Council and told them what was happening.
“Good morning, Major flooding on Hwy 39 at Casa Bonita rd. past hunt. 2 water rescues and 2 people stuck on the roof,” read the first sentence of Rice’s text. It then said water was rising in Louis Hayes Park, where an Independence Day celebration was scheduled to take place before the floodwaters tore — literally — through those plans.
The water was coming to Kerrville. Council members texted Rice back, but it seems the full realization had not set in.
“Ugh!!! Not what we needed today,” said Councilwoman Brenda Hughes.
“Oh man all the stuff set up yesterday shame,” replied Councilwoman Delayne Sigerman.
At the same time, Rice was now trying to prepare the emergency response.
“Preparing eoc,” he texted, referring to setting up the Emergency Operations Commands, adding to the urgency.
But setting up would take time.
It wasn’t until 6:15 a.m. that Rice sent out a group text to other city leaders: “Good morning. We are acting a command post at pd, louis hayes is underwater. Please notify your on call and emergency teams and stand by. Many high water crossings do not attempt cross any situation is developing rapidly.”
While there was no evacuation ordered by city leadership, some Kerrville staff were being proactive, according to the texts.
Director of Parks and Recreation Jay Brimhall texted back, “Parks is getting all park entrances closed. KSP is evacuating mini cabins.”
Rice texted city leaders to “Plan for 7am teams call information going out shortly.”
Unfortunately, by 6:15 a.m., the Guadalupe River had already risen to 26 feet, according to the National Weather Service River Forecast Center.
Texts show the city water plant was “out” and some buildings had lost power.
By 6:45 a.m., the river crested at 34 feet. And by the 7 a.m. Zoom call, the water had already begun to recede.