Overview

• State lawmakers convened on July 31 in Kerrville to hear testimony that Judge Rob Kelly was out of town and senior emergency officials were asleep as catastrophic flash floods unfolded.
• A CodeRED mobile alert requested at 4:22 a.m. on July 4 was not issued until 5:01 a.m., leaving residents without timely warning of the life-threatening floods.
• Lawmaker scrutiny extended to the Upper Guadalupe River Authority for not spending budgeted funds on local flood monitoring and relying solely on National Weather Service data.
• Survivors and community members recounted harrowing rescues, the absence of outdoor sirens since 1999 and broadband gaps that hindered timely communication.
• The Legislature’s Select Committee is drafting legislation to fund outdoor warning sirens, expand broadband, enhance early-warning systems and strengthen flood infrastructure.