The National Weather Service put out watches and warnings prior to the catastrophic floods. Did Kerr County use those ahead of time? Here’s what we know.
KERR COUNTY, Texas — What were Kerr County Officials doing to prepare for the possible flooding ahead of July Fourth? That’s the question on many minds in the wake of the recent tragedy.
On July 8, a reporter asked Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha what was happening in the early morning hours before the flood. Leitha said he wasn’t notified until after 4 a.m.
“When I was first notified it was around the 4(a.m.) to 5(a.m.) area. One of my sergeants was in dispatch when the first calls started to come in. The actual 911 calls. It was between 4 and 5 when I got notified OK? But prior to that, in that 3 to 4 area, my understanding is we are in the process of putting a timeline,” said Leitha. “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.”
Reporters asked several more times but didn’t get an answer. The press conference became contentious.
On Wednesday, July 9, a reporter asked Leitha if the county’s Code Red alerts had been used after a report that there was no “Code Red” sent out by the sheriff’s office until after 10 a.m., which would have been five hours after the surge of water started tearing through the county.
Leitha said there was going to have to be an After Action Report (AAR) to answer those questions.
“I want that answer. We are going to get that answer. I know that’s going to be asked over and over. We are not running or going to hide anything. That’s going to be checked into at a later time. I wish I could tell you that time,” Leitha said.
There is a reason the questions will continue.
It is a fact that the National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch in the areas around Austin and San Antonio at 1:18 p.m. the day before. It is also a fact that at 6:10 p.m. the day before, the Weather Prediction Center indicated the potential for flash flooding.
At 1:14 a.m. on July 4, still before the flooding, the National Weather Service sent out a bulletin that mentioned “life-threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.”
At 4:03 a.m., as the Guadalupe River was rising near Hunt, the National Weather Service had issued a Flash Flood Emergency which stated, “This is a FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY for south-central Kerr County, including Hunt. This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!”
It’s also a fact that, according to the Kerrville/Ingram/Kerr County Emergency Management Plan from 2015, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office and Kerr County Police have the responsibility to “receive information on emergency situations” and “alert key local officials of emergency situations,” according to page BP-20.
Other officials have equally critical responsibilities. The county judge, a local mayor, a city manager or an emergency management coordinator are responsible for activating an emergency operations center or “EOC” according to BP-30.
It’s still not clear if any of these steps occurred before 5 a.m. when the flood waters were already devastating the community. The situation left police officers and other responders already in the county going door to door to warn anyone they could and rescue others already stranded by rising water.