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Lawmakers Expose Leadership Absences and Alert Delays at Kerrville Flood Hearing

Hearings uncovered a nearly 40-minute delay in CodeRED warnings alongside key officials being unavailable, prompting legislators to draft bills covering emergency alerts, communication upgrades and flood infrastructure improvements.

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.