Officials Pushed for Better Warning System Years Before Devastating Texas Floods
Then-Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer was a proponent of outdoor sirens, having responded as a deputy to the 1987 floods that killed 10 teenagers at a camp in nearby Kendall County. He made the comments in 2016, after deadly floods ravaged a different part of Texas the year before.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Mayor in Flood-Hit Texas City: ‘We Didn't Even Have a Warning'
Kerrville mayor Joe Herring Jr. tearfully disclosed Monday that local officials 'didn't even have a warning' ahead of the catastrophic floods that killed over 100 people in central Texas. 'I think everyone in Kerrville, everyone in Kerr County, wishes we had some way to warn those people,' Herring told CNN's Pamela Brown in an interview Monday through tears. 'I've lost two friends. We loved them. And they're gone. They're gone.' Flooding struck central Texas on July 4 after heavy downpour caused the Guadalupe River to rise around 26 feet within just 45 minutes. Kerr County was notably hit the hardest by the historic flooding, and tragically holds the highest number of fatalities with 84 being confirmed dead as of Monday evening, per CNN. The total death toll across six counties has surged to at least 104 as of Monday evening, per The Associated Press. 'Everyone here, if we could have warned them, we would have done so. We didn't even have a warning, we did not know,' Herring continued. 'We did not know there was no—when I checked it about 8 o'clock that night, there's a chance of rain, but I did not see a flood warning.' 'I did not receive a flood notification. I did not know,' the mayor added. Texas Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd similarly bemoaned inaccurate weather forecasts in a Friday press conference, saying that 'the original forecast that we received Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3-6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4-8 inches in the Hill Country.' 'The amount of rain that fell at this specific location was never in any of those forecasts,' he continued. In a Saturday statement to the Daily Beast, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service, which was hit by employee cuts earlier this year, said: 'The National Weather Service is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County. On July 3, the NWS office in Austin/San Antonio, Texas, conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in the morning and issued a Flood Watch in the early afternoon.' 'Flash Flood Warnings were also issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred,' they continued. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt further countered claims that DOGE cuts at the National Weather Service hindered its response to the floods Monday, describing the natural disaster as an 'act of God.' 'It's not the administration's fault that the flood hit when it did,' Leavitt said. 'But there were early and consistent warnings, and again, the National Weather Service did its job.' The Daily Beast has contacted the National Weather Service for additional comment. Kerr County was notably also the site of Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp which is currently grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday that 10 girls and one counselor are still unaccounted for. In a press conference Monday, Herring warned that residents still face a 'rough week' ahead. 'We need your prayers,' he added.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ruidoso area under flood watch through Monday evening
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Ruidoso area is under a flood watch through Monday evening, July 14, the Village of Ruidoso said on social media. The National Weather Service issued the flood watch at noon Sunday and it is in effect through 9 p.m. Monday, the Village said. Ruidoso was hit by devastating flash flooding that killed three people on July 8 and damaged homes, businesses and vehicles. The Village said Sunday that 'excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.' 'Showers and thunderstorms will develop across the Sacramento Mountains late in the morning peaking during the early to mid-afternoon hours. Storm motion will be extremely slow and erratic. Wet soil from this weekend's shower and thunderstorm activity along with heavy rainfall rates of up to 3 inches an hour will help promote the potential for flash flooding and debris flow on the Ruidoso area burn scars,' the Village said. The Village also said the Disaster Relief Center has been relocated to Ruidoso Middle School, 124 Warrior Drive, from ENMU-Ruidoso, 709 Mechem Dr. The hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Disaster Relief Center is set up on the right side of the school. The Red Cross shelter is located on the left side of the school. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Grief and Prayer at Texas Churches: ‘Lord, Turn Off the Floodgates'
Scott Warner's phone beeped loudly with a flash flood warning just before 8 a.m. on Sunday, as storm clouds marched through the Texas Hill Country and began dropping torrents of rain. The Hill Country is still reeling from catastrophic floods that began July 4, and the new alert made him flinch, he said. So does hearing words that once evoked nothing but joy, he said: Camp. River. Rain. 'We're not the same as we were before the Fourth of July,' Mr. Warner, the senior minister at Kerrville Church of Christ, told the roughly 50 people gathered in its pews Sunday morning. 'We're hurting, we're downtrodden, we're suffering. We're crushed in a lot of ways spiritually. We got anxiety, we got fear, we got sorrow.' People in Central Texas trickled into churches on Sunday looking for solace after so much destruction battered their region. The floods that struck over the July 4 holiday weekend killed at least 129 people, including at least 36 children. Officials say that at least 170 more people are still unaccounted for. Kerrville is the county seat and largest city of Kerr County, where most of the deaths occurred. Thousands of searchers continued to look on Sunday for victims of the flood, when the fresh rain falling on the region allowed. But the chances of finding more of the missing were dimming as the search dragged into a 10th day. The heartbreak has seemed ceaseless, local residents say — a feeling underscored by the thunderstorms that bore down again on Sunday, threatening further destruction and forcing many people to stay home from church services. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
