Texas state lawmakers held a special legislative session in Kerrville, examining local officials' response to catastrophic flash flooding that killed over 130 people in the Hill Country earlier that month.

Texas

Texas state lawmakers convened a special session in Kerrville to examine the response of local officials to recent catastrophic flash flooding that resulted in the deaths of at least 137 people. Officials, including Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly and Emergency Management Coordinator William B. Thomas IV, faced questions about their whereabouts and actions during the disaster, with some citing a lack of prior weather alerts and personal circumstances.

The high death toll has prompted concerns about staffing shortages at the National Weather Service and the absence of flash flood warning sirens in Kerr County. While some officials debated the effectiveness of warning systems, experts argued that improved alerts could have saved lives. Lawmakers indicated that solutions would be developed, though implementation would require time.

Texas lawmakers grill officials over response during deadly floods

Texas state lawmakers on Thursday held a special legislative session in Kerrville, the seat of the county hardest hit by catastrophic flash flooding that killed at least 137 people last month, one of the deadliest US flood events in decades. Several local officials on Thursday faced intense scrutiny about their response to the disaster. Here's the Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick addressing Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly. I don't know where you were on day one on July 4th, but you should have been here. You should have been here directing that response. Everyone was here that day working their ass off and you were nowhere to be found. Kelly said that nothing seemed out of the ordinary the day prior and no extreme weather alerts had been received. He said he had been at a lake house when the flash flooding occurred, which sent a wall of water down the Guadalupe River, washing away camps of children and 4th of July weekend goers. Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator William B. Thomas IV also testified about his whereabouts during the flooding. Thomas explained he had been recovering from illness when the disaster struck, but that he reported immediately to the sheriff's office after being alerted. To those of you who ask, what would you have done differently? The honest answer is that based on the data we had at the time, there was no clear indicator that a catastrophic flood was imminent. The high death toll has raised concerns about vacancies at National Weather Service offices due to staffing cuts under President Donald Trump, as well as questions about the lack of flash flood warning sirens in Kerr County. At several points during the hearing, officials appeared at odds on that front. While Kerrville's mayor asked lawmakers to help get a flood warning system in place by next summer, the county sheriff questioned whether a warning system would have done any good, saying the water quote, came too fast. James Doskolin is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, as well as an expert on flooding and emergency alert systems. He believes that a more robust alert system would have helped save lives. Had that been in place, we couldn't have protected the property that got damaged, but we could have saved hopefully almost every life. I don't want to say every single one, but death during a flash flood is ultimately preventable. Texas's Speaker of the House Dustin Burroughs said lawmakers would come up with quote, some solutions during the 30-day special session, but that the effort would take time.

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Breakdown