Mayor in Flood-Hit Texas City: ‘We Didn't Even Have a Warning'
'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.
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Don't drown': Timeline of the Guadalupe River flooding disaster
In the early days of July, pieces of weather systems were converging to create a disaster over Texas Hill Country that would transform the Guadalupe River into a monster raging out of its banks in the pre-dawn hours of July 4, claiming the lives of more than 129 people. At least 160 are still missing. The hours leading up to the tragedy, and the actions taken to protect the lives of those in the water's hellish fury, are critical to understanding what happened and whether more could have been done in the name of safety. Through a National Weather Service messaging service with emergency management officials and broadcast meteorologists, U.S. Geological Survey data and other records, USA TODAY has pieced together a timeline of the calamity on the Guadalupe. As early as July 1, the National Weather Service began warning of the potential for heavy rains. Bits of Tropical Storm Barry, which dissipated over eastern Mexico on June 30 but were still loaded with rain after their journey over the warm Bay of Campeche, were moving into Texas. Tropical moisture from the eastern Pacific, which has been cranking out storms this summer, also was moving into the region. By July 2, the weather service began warning that Hill Country could continue to see showers and isolated storms "well into Friday morning." In the end, a terrible deluge, greater than anyone expected, fell over the steep hills and rugged terrain, delivering up to 20 inches of rain over three days in some parts of the region. In the headwaters of the Guadalupe River, where its North and South forks converge west of Hunt, Texas, the rain flowed down hills and rushed into the river, surprising homeowners, campers and vacationers. "It's hard to believe the devastation," President Donald Trump said Friday as he visited the flooded region. "We are grieving with you," said First Lady Melania. "Our nation is grieving with you." The geological survey maintains gauges in the river that track the surface height of the water. Even though the reported measurements are still considered preliminary, they provide the clearest picture of the river's explosive rise. Here are the hours leading up to the disaster: Slow-moving convective storms may rain over and over in the same location and cause flash flooding in the Hill Country region of Texas, advises the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. Weather service meteorologists join a Zoom call with more than a dozen state and local emergency management officials to discuss the rain and forecast. It isn't known whether Kerr County officials were on the call. What Texas cities flooded? Here's where the most rain fell over the Independence Day weekend Storms are increasingly blanketing south-central Texas, says the weather service office in Austin/San Antonio, adding it's "closely monitoring for the potential of locally heavy rain today and tonight." The weather service says it will issue a flood watch for parts of South Central Texas, including Hill Country and the Rio Grande, because of the "abundant tropical moisture in place and the potential for heavy rain this afternoon into the evening and into the overnight hours." A Flood Watch through 7 a.m. is posted on the weather service office Facebook page, for western Hill Country, the Rio Grande and the southern portion of the Edwards Plateau. The plateau is an elevated region formed from marine deposits such as limestone and sandstone when the area was covered by an ocean some 100 million years ago. Moments earlier, the Texas Division of Emergency Management posted a news release on Facebook, announcing it had activated its emergency operations center and adding resources ahead of expected heavy rainfall and flash flooding threats over the holiday weekend. In a weather discussion, the prediction center says it's seeing "concerning trends for back-building and training thunderstorms" over the Texas Hill Country that could produce more than 3 inches of rain an hour, thanks to a bit of Barry's leftover circulation. High levels of moisture, a "quite unstable" atmosphere, and a jet of winds could all contribute to heavier rain. Given the prolific rainfall potential, the weather service says "locally considerable flash flooding this evening is possible." In response to a request from Bexar County, the weather service says some models bring moderate to heavy rain across the northwest part of the Bexar, while others keep the activity over the southern Edwards Plateau. Moments later, the weather service says it expects shower and thunderstorm activity to increase over the next 3 to 4 hours , with some models suggesting the heaviest rain potential across the southern portion of the plateau. In Kerrville, one of the gauges in the Guadalupe River first begins to detect a slight rise in the water level. In an "URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED," the weather service expands the flood watch to Bexar, Kendall, Gillespie and Llano counties through 7 a.m. on July 4, and says isolated amounts of 5 to 7 inches of rain are possible. "Pockets of heavy rain are affecting Kendall County and then heading to parts of Gillespie and Blanco Counties," the weather service states, which could add to the 1 to 2 inches that have fallen over some areas in 3 hours. A flood advisory posts for Bandera County, Kerr County's neighbor to the south, after 1 to 2 inches of rain, with additional rainfall moving in. Weather service upgrades to a flash flood warning for Bandera County because it's seeing rain potential of 5 to 7 inches near Tarpley. Soon after, a rain gauge near Tarpley shows 2.68 inches of rain in 45 minutes. Areas of flash flooding will be likely across Central Texas overnight with "very heavy rainfall" expected, with hourly rainfall in excess of 2 to 3 inches and six-hour totals over 6 inches, the Weather Prediction Center announces. It warns of "training" (rain in the same place again and again) over Bandera and San Saba counties, and southeast of San Angelo. "These areas of heavy rainfall are expected to result in a few areas of flash flooding through the overnight, some of which may become locally significant." Storms are beginning to merge over central Kerr County and will be an area to watch for potential flash flooding, the weather service says. The Guadalupe River at a gauge above Bear Creek near Kerrville begins to rise. The weather service issues "a Flash Flood Warning" for northwest Bandera County into central Kerr County. The USGS gauge on the Guadalupe River at Hunt, Texas shows the river's flow increasing and water height creeping upward. The water rises about a tenth of a foot in 25 minutes. The USGS gauge on Guadalupe at Kerrville has risen 6 inches in 2.5 hours, reaching a height of .84 feet at the gauge. Rain rates have increased across south-central Kerr County, with an estimated 2 to 4 inches of rain so far, the weather service says. "Flooding is likely to begin in the warned area if it hasn't already." " It advises officials and broadcast meteorologists to push the reminder "Turn Around, Don't Drown," especially in the hills at night, when it is harder to recognize the depth of the water over a road. The Guadalupe gauge at Hunt shows a rise of .84 feet in an hour. Its flow in cubic feet per second is 30 times faster. The radar estimates 2 to 5 inches of rain has fallen in south-central Kerr County, the weather service says. "Flash flooding has likely begun." At the River Inn Resort in Hunt, Texas, the manager wakes up Randy and Mollie Schaffer, banging on their door and telling them to evacuate immediately because the river is "about to overflow its banks," Randy Schaffer wrote later in a Facebook post. (The Schaffers evacuated but their SUV was swept into the current. He escaped the raging waters, but lost his beloved Mollie.) At the gauge near Hunt, the Guadalupe has risen 6.29 feet in two hours. Water flow is 1,000 times faster. A downstream flood warning will be issued for the Guadalupe River at Kerrville, and a flash flood warning for south-central Kerr and northwest Bandera extended until 7 a.m., the weather service says. It's issued at 3:33 a.m. "Again, this is a very dangerous flash flood event unfolding." The latest river forecast takes Guadalupe at Hunt to "major flood stage," the weather service says. Eight minutes later, at 4:04 a.m., the service upgrades the Flash Flood Warning to a Flash Flood Emergency. Meanwhile the Guadalupe above Bear Creek also begins to transform, rising six inches in three hours. Screams wake Kolton Taylor at Camp La Junta on the Guadalupe. He climbs from his bed into knee-high floodwaters that soon become waist-high. He later tells his mother, Janet Davis, he hears sounds "he won't ever forget." Weather service radar estimates a swath of 5 to 10 inches of rain has fallen in 3 to 6 hours across south-central Kerr County, with 7.85 inches measured just upstream of the community of Hunt. "This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION and a Flash Flood EMERGENCY is in effect through 7 AM," the weather service warns. The Guadalupe River's flow at the USGS gauge near Hunt has grown from 9 cubic feet per second at 1:20 a.m. to 72,100 cubic feet per second, pushing the river 17 feet higher. The heaviest rainfall begins to shift north in Kerr County and the weather service says it will issue a flood advisory for southwest Gillespie County. The Guadalupe rises sharply and reaches its 2nd highest height on record near Hunt, higher than a terrible deadly flood in July 1987, the weather service says. "This flood wave will continue downstream through Kerrville and Comfort. This is a very dangerous and life-threatening flood event along the Guadalupe River!" Minutes later, the West Gulf River Forecast Center upgrades its forecast for the river to crest at 34 feet at Hunt, near its record height at that gauge, set in 1932 at 36.6 feet. The measuring gauge at Hunt sends its last reading before being submerged, showing the water level rose from a height of 7.69 to 37.52 feet in less than 4 hours. Downstream on the Guadalupe, the gauge at Kerrville has risen a foot. It will rise 3.5 feet in the next 14 minutes and more than 7 feet in 30 minutes. The USGS gauge on the Guadalupe at Bear Creek shows a rise of 9 feet in an hour. The Kerrville Police Department posts on Facebook ***FLOOD ALERT***. It states the weather service reports record high water in Hunt and that anyone near the Guadalupe River "needs to move to higher ground now." After talking with emergency management officials, the weather service says it will issue a Flash Flood Emergency for the Guadalupe River from Hunt through Kerrville and down to Center Point. "This will allow for wireless emergency alerts of cell phones for residents and campers along the river. This is a very dangerous and potentially deadly flood wave moving down the river." High water rescues are ongoing along the Guadalupe River and South Fork of the Guadalupe River in Hunt, with people on roof tops, local emergency officials tell the weather service. The USGS gauge on the Guadalupe at Kerrville shows the river has risen 24.2 feet in one hour. The Kerr County Sheriff's Office posts on Facebook: 'DANGEROUS FLOODING NOW on the Guadalupe River in Hunt.' Widespread rain, some heavy, continues falling across Hill Country, with a flash flood emergency ongoing for south-central Kerry County. "Continue to push for people to move to higher ground if they are along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County! Otherwise avoid travel through the county," the weather service says. The sun rises in Kerrville, Texas, allowing flood victims still clinging to trees and debris to begin seeing the full devastating destruction around them. A rain gauge on the USGS equipment at Hunt, reports 7.54 inches of rain, the weather service reports. The USGS gauge on the Guadalupe at Hunt reaches its highest point – 34.29 feet, an increase of 32.47 feet in an hour and forty-five minutes. The weather service issues another flash flood emergency along the Guadalupe, downstream from Center Point to below Comfort. Embedded content: A flash flood warning is issued for western Gillespie County, where 2-4 inches rain has fallen and another 1 to 3 inches is possible. An additional 2 to 4 inches of rain could fall in Kerr County, the weather service says, which could produce another small rise in river levels. A meteorologist with CBS tells the weather service a viewer with family in law enforcement reported an entire RV park was swept downstream in Ingram with families inside the trailers. A video from behind Howdy's Bar and Chill confirmed the river was climbing to the back of the restaurant, says the weather service. "This is a catastrophic flooding event in Kerr County," the Sheriff's Office posts on Facebook. "We can confirm fatalities ... and the entire county is an extremely active scene." Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick confirms during its news briefing that "somewhere between 6 and 10 bodies have been found," emphasizing that number would change. At Camp Mystic, a waterfront girls camp south of the Hunt community, 23 girls are unaccounted for, Patrick says. "That does not mean they've been lost. They could be in a tree. They could be out of communication. We're praying for all of those missing to be found alive." Contributing: Christopher Cann, Rick Jervis and Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, writes about climate change, violent weather and other news. Reach her at dpulver@ or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Don't drown': The timeline of deadly flooding in Texas Hill Country
USA Today
43 minutes ago
- USA Today
'Don't drown': Timeline of the Guadalupe River flooding disaster
In the early days of July, pieces of weather systems were converging to create a disaster over Texas Hill Country that would transform the Guadalupe River into a monster raging out of its banks in the pre-dawn hours of July 4, claiming the lives of more than 129 people. At least 160 are still missing. The hours leading up to the tragedy, and the actions taken to protect the lives of those in the water's hellish fury, are critical to understanding what happened and whether more could have been done in the name of safety. Through a National Weather Service messaging service with emergency management officials and broadcast meteorologists, U.S. Geological Survey data and other records, USA TODAY has pieced together a timeline of the calamity on the Guadalupe. As early as July 1, the National Weather Service began warning of the potential for heavy rains. Bits of Tropical Storm Barry, which dissipated over eastern Mexico on June 30 but were still loaded with rain after their journey over the warm Bay of Campeche, were moving into Texas. Tropical moisture from the eastern Pacific, which has been cranking out storms this summer, also was moving into the region. By July 2, the weather service began warning that Hill Country could continue to see showers and isolated storms "well into Friday morning." In the end, a terrible deluge, greater than anyone expected, fell over the steep hills and rugged terrain, delivering up to 20 inches of rain over three days in some parts of the region. In the headwaters of the Guadalupe River, where its North and South forks converge west of Hunt, Texas, the rain flowed down hills and rushed into the river, surprising homeowners, campers and vacationers. "It's hard to believe the devastation," President Donald Trump said Friday as he visited the flooded region. "We are grieving with you," said First Lady Melania. "Our nation is grieving with you." The geological survey maintains gauges in the river that track the surface height of the water. Even though the reported measurements are still considered preliminary, they provide the clearest picture of the river's explosive rise. Here are the hours leading up to the disaster: 7:38 a.m., July 3 Slow-moving convective storms may rain over and over in the same location and cause flash flooding in the Hill Country region of Texas, advises the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. 10 a.m., July 3 Weather service meteorologists join a Zoom call with more than a dozen state and local emergency management officials to discuss the rain and forecast. It isn't known whether Kerr County officials were on the call. What Texas cities flooded? Here's where the most rain fell over the Independence Day weekend 12:17 p.m., July 3 Storms are increasingly blanketing south-central Texas, says the weather service office in Austin/San Antonio, adding it's "closely monitoring for the potential of locally heavy rain today and tonight." 1:24 p.m., July 3 The weather service says it will issue a flood watch for parts of South Central Texas, including Hill Country and the Rio Grande, because of the "abundant tropical moisture in place and the potential for heavy rain this afternoon into the evening and into the overnight hours." 3:39 p.m., July 3 A Flood Watch through 7 a.m. is posted on the weather service office Facebook page, for western Hill Country, the Rio Grande and the southern portion of the Edwards Plateau. The plateau is an elevated region formed from marine deposits such as limestone and sandstone when the area was covered by an ocean some 100 million years ago. Moments earlier, the Texas Division of Emergency Management posted a news release on Facebook, announcing it had activated its emergency operations center and adding resources ahead of expected heavy rainfall and flash flooding threats over the holiday weekend. 6:10 p.m., July 3 In a weather discussion, the prediction center says it's seeing "concerning trends for back-building and training thunderstorms" over the Texas Hill Country that could produce more than 3 inches of rain an hour, thanks to a bit of Barry's leftover circulation. High levels of moisture, a "quite unstable" atmosphere, and a jet of winds could all contribute to heavier rain. Given the prolific rainfall potential, the weather service says "locally considerable flash flooding this evening is possible." 7:09 p.m. to 7:14 p.m., July 3 In response to a request from Bexar County, the weather service says some models bring moderate to heavy rain across the northwest part of the Bexar, while others keep the activity over the southern Edwards Plateau. Moments later, the weather service says it expects shower and thunderstorm activity to increase over the next 3 to 4 hours , with some models suggesting the heaviest rain potential across the southern portion of the plateau. 7:45 p.m., July 3 In Kerrville, one of the gauges in the Guadalupe River first begins to detect a slight rise in the water level. 7:51 p.m., July 3 In an "URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED," the weather service expands the flood watch to Bexar, Kendall, Gillespie and Llano counties through 7 a.m. on July 4, and says isolated amounts of 5 to 7 inches of rain are possible. 9:34 p.m., July 3 "Pockets of heavy rain are affecting Kendall County and then heading to parts of Gillespie and Blanco Counties," the weather service states, which could add to the 1 to 2 inches that have fallen over some areas in 3 hours. 11:13 p.m., July 3 A flood advisory posts for Bandera County, Kerr County's neighbor to the south, after 1 to 2 inches of rain, with additional rainfall moving in. 11:41 p.m., July 3 Weather service upgrades to a flash flood warning for Bandera County because it's seeing rain potential of 5 to 7 inches near Tarpley. Soon after, a rain gauge near Tarpley shows 2.68 inches of rain in 45 minutes. 12:26 a.m., July 4 Areas of flash flooding will be likely across Central Texas overnight with "very heavy rainfall" expected, with hourly rainfall in excess of 2 to 3 inches and six-hour totals over 6 inches, the Weather Prediction Center announces. It warns of "training" (rain in the same place again and again) over Bandera and San Saba counties, and southeast of San Angelo. "These areas of heavy rainfall are expected to result in a few areas of flash flooding through the overnight, some of which may become locally significant." 12:56 a.m., July 4 Storms are beginning to merge over central Kerr County and will be an area to watch for potential flash flooding, the weather service says. 1 a.m. to 1:14 a.m., July 4 The Guadalupe River at a gauge above Bear Creek near Kerrville begins to rise. The weather service issues "a Flash Flood Warning" for northwest Bandera County into central Kerr County. 1:20 a.m., July 4 The USGS gauge on the Guadalupe River at Hunt, Texas shows the river's flow increasing and water height creeping upward. The water rises about a tenth of a foot in 25 minutes. 1:30 a.m., July 4 The USGS gauge on Guadalupe at Kerrville has risen 6 inches in 2.5 hours, reaching a height of .84 feet at the gauge. 1:48 a.m., July 4 Rain rates have increased across south-central Kerr County, with an estimated 2 to 4 inches of rain so far, the weather service says. "Flooding is likely to begin in the warned area if it hasn't already." " It advises officials and broadcast meteorologists to push the reminder "Turn Around, Don't Drown," especially in the hills at night, when it is harder to recognize the depth of the water over a road. 2:20 a.m., July 4 The Guadalupe gauge at Hunt shows a rise of .84 feet in an hour. Its flow in cubic feet per second is 30 times faster. 2:28 a.m., July 4 The radar estimates 2 to 5 inches of rain has fallen in south-central Kerr County, the weather service says. "Flash flooding has likely begun." 3:00 a.m., July 4 At the River Inn Resort in Hunt, Texas, the manager wakes up Randy and Mollie Schaffer, banging on their door and telling them to evacuate immediately because the river is "about to overflow its banks," Randy Schaffer wrote later in a Facebook post. (The Schaffers evacuated but their SUV was swept into the current. He escaped the raging waters, but lost his beloved Mollie.) 3:20 a.m., July 4 At the gauge near Hunt, the Guadalupe has risen 6.29 feet in two hours. Water flow is 1,000 times faster. 3:28 a.m., July 4 A downstream flood warning will be issued for the Guadalupe River at Kerrville, and a flash flood warning for south-central Kerr and northwest Bandera extended until 7 a.m., the weather service says. It's issued at 3:33 a.m. "Again, this is a very dangerous flash flood event unfolding." 3:56 a.m., July 4 The latest river forecast takes Guadalupe at Hunt to "major flood stage," the weather service says. Eight minutes later, at 4:04 a.m., the service upgrades the Flash Flood Warning to a Flash Flood Emergency. Meanwhile the Guadalupe above Bear Creek also begins to transform, rising six inches in three hours. Around 4:00 a.m., July 4 Screams wake Kolton Taylor at Camp La Junta on the Guadalupe. He climbs from his bed into knee-high floodwaters that soon become waist-high. He later tells his mother, Janet Davis, he hears sounds "he won't ever forget." 4:20 a.m., July 4 Weather service radar estimates a swath of 5 to 10 inches of rain has fallen in 3 to 6 hours across south-central Kerr County, with 7.85 inches measured just upstream of the community of Hunt. "This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION and a Flash Flood EMERGENCY is in effect through 7 AM," the weather service warns. The Guadalupe River's flow at the USGS gauge near Hunt has grown from 9 cubic feet per second at 1:20 a.m. to 72,100 cubic feet per second, pushing the river 17 feet higher. 4:31 a.m., July 4 The heaviest rainfall begins to shift north in Kerr County and the weather service says it will issue a flood advisory for southwest Gillespie County. 5:04 a.m., July 4 The Guadalupe rises sharply and reaches its 2nd highest height on record near Hunt, higher than a terrible deadly flood in July 1987, the weather service says. "This flood wave will continue downstream through Kerrville and Comfort. This is a very dangerous and life-threatening flood event along the Guadalupe River!" Minutes later, the West Gulf River Forecast Center upgrades its forecast for the river to crest at 34 feet at Hunt, near its record height at that gauge, set in 1932 at 36.6 feet. 5:10 a.m., July 4 The measuring gauge at Hunt sends its last reading before being submerged, showing the water level rose from a height of 7.69 to 37.52 feet in less than 4 hours. 5:15 a.m., July 4 Downstream on the Guadalupe, the gauge at Kerrville has risen a foot. It will rise 3.5 feet in the next 14 minutes and more than 7 feet in 30 minutes. The USGS gauge on the Guadalupe at Bear Creek shows a rise of 9 feet in an hour. 5:16 a.m., July 4 The Kerrville Police Department posts on Facebook ***FLOOD ALERT***. It states the weather service reports record high water in Hunt and that anyone near the Guadalupe River "needs to move to higher ground now." 5:36 a.m., July 4 After talking with emergency management officials, the weather service says it will issue a Flash Flood Emergency for the Guadalupe River from Hunt through Kerrville and down to Center Point. "This will allow for wireless emergency alerts of cell phones for residents and campers along the river. This is a very dangerous and potentially deadly flood wave moving down the river." 5:43 a.m., July 4 High water rescues are ongoing along the Guadalupe River and South Fork of the Guadalupe River in Hunt, with people on roof tops, local emergency officials tell the weather service. 6:15 am., July 4 The USGS gauge on the Guadalupe at Kerrville shows the river has risen 24.2 feet in one hour. 6:32 a.m., July 4 The Kerr County Sheriff's Office posts on Facebook: 'DANGEROUS FLOODING NOW on the Guadalupe River in Hunt.' 6:37 a.m., July 4 Widespread rain, some heavy, continues falling across Hill Country, with a flash flood emergency ongoing for south-central Kerry County. "Continue to push for people to move to higher ground if they are along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County! Otherwise avoid travel through the county," the weather service says. 6:40 a.m., July 4 The sun rises in Kerrville, Texas, allowing flood victims still clinging to trees and debris to begin seeing the full devastating destruction around them. 6:42 a.m., July 4 A rain gauge on the USGS equipment at Hunt, reports 7.54 inches of rain, the weather service reports. 6:45 a.m. The USGS gauge on the Guadalupe at Hunt reaches its highest point – 34.29 feet, an increase of 32.47 feet in an hour and forty-five minutes. 7:17 a.m. July 4 The weather service issues another flash flood emergency along the Guadalupe, downstream from Center Point to below Comfort. 8:58 a.m., July 4 A flash flood warning is issued for western Gillespie County, where 2-4 inches rain has fallen and another 1 to 3 inches is possible. 9:10 a.m., July 4 An additional 2 to 4 inches of rain could fall in Kerr County, the weather service says, which could produce another small rise in river levels. 9:18 a.m., July 4 A meteorologist with CBS tells the weather service a viewer with family in law enforcement reported an entire RV park was swept downstream in Ingram with families inside the trailers. A video from behind Howdy's Bar and Chill confirmed the river was climbing to the back of the restaurant, says the weather service. 9:30 a.m., July 4 "This is a catastrophic flooding event in Kerr County," the Sheriff's Office posts on Facebook. "We can confirm fatalities ... and the entire county is an extremely active scene." 3:27 p.m., July 4 Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick confirms during its news briefing that "somewhere between 6 and 10 bodies have been found," emphasizing that number would change. At Camp Mystic, a waterfront girls camp south of the Hunt community, 23 girls are unaccounted for, Patrick says. "That does not mean they've been lost. They could be in a tree. They could be out of communication. We're praying for all of those missing to be found alive." Contributing: Christopher Cann, Rick Jervis and Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, writes about climate change, violent weather and other news. Reach her at dpulver@ or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago-area officials are bracing as summer storms roll in following Texas tragedy and weather service budget cuts
When more than a month's worth of rain fell in 90 minutes just west of the United Center late Tuesday night, federal weather forecasters warned of possible flash flooding, triggering a chain of events that alerted some Chicago residents about potential danger. Among them was Sandra Mason, 55, who lives in a ground-floor apartment on the Near West Side. After receiving an alert on her phone at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Mason began lining her back door with blankets to stop any water from seeping in. Just a few blocks east, the National Weather Service recorded 5 inches of rain falling in an hour and a half, as a thunderstorm stalled over downtown and nearby neighborhoods. The torrent inundated basements, flooded viaducts and closed expressway lanes. Emergency responders rescued stranded motorists. During the evening of July 8, 2025, a stationary thunderstorm produced a very localized area of 2 to 5"+ of rain. At one station, 5.14" of rain fell in just 90 minutes! Such torrential rain rates led to flooded viaducts, water rescues, and basements in the impacted area. #ILwx — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) July 9, 2025Previous storms have flooded Mason's building, damaging appliances and furniture, but this time she was mostly spared. Still, she said she was grateful for the federal weather agency alerts. 'You don't know if your house is going to flood,' Mason said. 'You just don't know, you just have to be on your toes.' Weather-related anxiety is high across the country following flash floods in central Texas that killed at least 120 people over the Fourth of July weekend. One of the central concerns is whether Trump administration cuts to the National Weather Service — the backbone of the country's weather warning system — will hamper local governments and residents from staving off disaster when severe weather strikes. The Trump administration this spring eliminated nearly 600 National Weather Service jobs across the country through early retirement, the firing of probationary employees and a hiring freeze across the federal government. It has since made an exception to its hiring freeze and started filling more than 100 weather service vacancies. So far, the Chicago area has felt less of an impact from those staffing reductions than other regions, particularly less-populated areas served by weather service offices in the Quad Cities and downstate Lincoln, 30 miles northeast of Springfield. But Trump's budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts in October, calls for further cuts at other agencies within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the elimination of research centers that study climate. While Chicago has so far been spared, Illinois Democrats in Washington, D.C., remain critical of the cuts and note that any trims to weather service offices downstate will have an impact on Illinois residents. The office in Lincoln, which serves much of central Illinois, doesn't have a technician to fix radars on other equipment, meaning it has to bring somebody in from another office if something breaks, said U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, who worked as a physicist at Fermilab before joining Congress. 'It hasn't broken yet, but (scientists in the Chicago office are) having to do heroic work, and frankly they're wasting a lot of money because of the DOGE cuts in particular,' Foster, a Naperville Democrat, said about the Trump administration team formerly led by Elon Musk that tried to eliminate thousands of federal jobs earlier this year. 'They're coming under great stress, but I'm very proud of the fact that, at least so far, they haven't dropped the ball in Chicago.' Other offices covering Illinois have been harder hit. The Davenport, Iowa, office that covers northwest Illinois saw a 42% reduction in staffing as of June, and its top two positions were vacant. 'That's not OK, since this stuff has to be available in emergencies, right?' Foster said, noting some people in Naperville escaped a 2021 tornado with just minutes of warning. 'What you're seeing is sort of a thinning out of the capabilities you'll need in an emergency with no disasters yet.' U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who sits on the committee that oversees the National Weather Service, said 'any cuts to Illinois's two NWS offices (in future federal budgets) would jeopardize timely weather warnings that are critical to protecting Illinoisans, especially as we continue to see the effects of climate change through more intense and more frequent extreme weather events.' The Trump administration's efforts to trim the National Weather Service payroll faced bipartisan opposition even before the Texas flooding. Republican lawmakers in Nebraska, for example, objected to the weather service ceasing daily weather balloon launches from smaller offices as Democratic lawmakers rallied against cuts at NOAA's headquarters in the Maryland suburbs of Washington. But scrutiny about the budget moves and their impact on the weather services' performance grew as the death toll climbed in Texas. The NWS issued several warnings at least three hours before the Guadalupe River in Texas' Hill Country rose by more than 25 feet in two hours. But many residents and young campers died as the floods swelled in the middle of the night, fueling fierce debates over who was to blame for so many people not knowing about the imminent danger. One of the top concerns has been about the role NWS staffing reductions had on the agency's response. The weather service's San Angelo office had vacancies in key leadership roles, including a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge. The neighboring San Antonio office also had several crucial roles open. The Senate's top Democrat, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, called on an inspector general to investigate whether staffing cuts hampered the weather service's response. 'The roles left unfilled are not marginal, they're critical,' Schumer wrote. 'To put it plainly: They help save lives.' Erica Grow Cei, an NWS spokesperson, said the agency moved personnel to those offices over the Fourth of July weekend in response to the storms that caused the flooding. 'All forecasts and warnings were issued in a timely manner,' she wrote in an email message. 'Additionally, these offices were able to provide decision support services to local partners, including those in the emergency management community.' Grow Cei said the weather service is temporarily assigning and hiring 'a targeted number of permanent, mission-critical positions' to 'further stabilize frontline operations.' At a confirmation hearing last week, Neil Jacobs, Trump's nominee to lead NOAA, told senators he would make increasing staffing at the agency a 'top priority.' But many scientists worry about the long-term effects of the existing staffing shortages. 'Even before this terrible tragedy in Texas, which is still unfolding, we have been worried about the cuts that were done by the Trump administration' to federal agencies that handle weather-related emergencies, including the National Weather Service, said Juan Declet-Barreto, the bilingual social scientist for climate vulnerability at the Union of Concerned Scientists. 'There has been a degradation in the alerts and in the capacity of the National Weather Service to do its job.' Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University, said it appeared the NWS had adequate staffing during the Texas flooding because it brought in extra scientists for the storms. The offices had five people working overnight instead of the usual two. 'I do worry, though, about how many times you can roll the dice,' Gensini said. 'Maybe next time, there won't be five people. It's dangerous to continue this understaffing of the weather service at large, because these events are not going to stop.' In Illinois, as in the rest of the country, the National Weather Service is at the forefront of preparing for weather-related disasters. But warnings from the federal forecasters are only the first step of a coordinated effort by government agencies to alert the public about imminent weather dangers. 'It's not just having good forecasts and good, accurate, timely warnings for these events; it's also communicating them to the potential affected areas and having these individuals react in the proper manner,' Gensini said. 'That requires emergency management, it requires planning, it requires the infrastructure and technology to disseminate that message properly.' Kevin Doom, a meteorologist at the NWS Chicago office, said one of the biggest challenges in responding to severe weather is making sure information flows to residents. 'That's where we have to put a little bit of trust in some of our partners to do that,' he said. In severe weather events like last Tuesday's flash flooding, Chicago's Office of Emergency Management & Communications played a key role. It operates nonstop with five to 10 people working there daily, emergency manager Matt Doughtie said. The city agency typically amplifies messages from the federal weather service while employees monitor the effects of the emergency. For instance, the city has computer systems that automatically send messages from the weather service through texts or emails from NotifyChicago, the agency's app and city social media accounts. When necessary, those automated systems also help activate the city's 118 tornado sirens. Additionally, Chicago's emergency management office can take control of select digital billboards around the city for emergency messaging. It also can send wireless emergency alerts, which broadcast emergency messages directly to cell phones. The city and National Weather Service coordinate to avoid overlap on shared resources like wireless alerts, Doughtie said. While the weather service generally sounds out announcements directly related to weather, the city agency handles more localized directions to residents, including evacuation or shelter-in-place orders, he added. Doughtie said the weather service is a strong partner that often sends representatives to help with planned city events, like parades and festivals, as well as emergencies. 'One of our strongest relationships is with their warning coordination meteorologist, who's been with them for a long time,' Doughtie said. 'If we were to lose somebody like that, that would hurt and we would feel that pinch. Thus far, we haven't really seen any real degradation of their services this year.' For weather events that stretch beyond the city's boundaries, Chicago's emergency management office collaborates with Cook County's Emergency Management and Regional Security department. Doughtie said the county's role is crucial because there are more than 130 municipalities in the county. In addition to coordinating information among municipalities, Cook County's emergency management department runs its own text notification system, AlertCook, for residents. It also can help broadcast shelter or evacuation orders, especially for suburban municipalities in the county. Angela Gilkes, interim executive director of Cook County's emergency department, said her agency also relies on National Weather Service data for its emergency responses. Specifically, localized forecasts about where storms of flooding might hit hardest allow the county to move portable pumps and generators to those sites in advance, she said. In the Texas floods, the role of local governments relaying the warnings from the National Weather Service has also come under scrutiny. In the Chicago area, the mechanisms for alerting the public vary county by county, and, in some cases, city by city. Emergency management officials in DuPage, Lake, Kane, McHenry and Kendall counties all said communication between federal and local authorities is key to ensuring residents know what is happening when a significant weather system hits. 'We are sharing weather intelligence (with partners) right away,' said Daniel Eder, manager of the Lake County Emergency Management Agency. Scott Buziecki, Kane County's emergency management director, said he relies on relationships with neighboring counties and agencies, many of which were 'built during disasters and emergencies,' while Roger Bonuchi, Kendall County's emergency management director, said he also teaches a NWS-certified storm spotter course that allows volunteers to report signs of unusual weather. The county currently has about 22 storm spotters who work with Bonuchi. Many Illinois counties use the Federal Emergency Management Agency's national alerting system to send alerts from the federal meteorologists. The system, called the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS, also lets local jurisdictions broadcast public safety announcements to television and radio stations. McHenry County strongly encourages farmers to have a solar, hand-crank or battery-powered NOAA weather radio, said county Emergency Management Director David Christensen, adding he doesn't want residents 'to rely on social media' where posts from unreliable sources could mislead or unnecessarily frighten residents. Outside of emergency systems and communications, another key difference between what happened in Texas and weather emergencies in Illinois is the two states' terrain. 'It's not the same type of flooding that happens in the Texas Hill Country, because we don't have the topography that they do, but what we do have that they don't is a significant amount more of impervious surfaces,' said Gensini, the NIU professor. 'You saw this (last Tuesday). There were water rescues on Ashland Avenue … from people trapped in their cars because of really just normal — what I would consider kind of run-of-the-mill — rainfall.' Chicago-area residents saw similar scenes on Thursday night when more rain fell and the National Weather Service issued its second flood-related alert of the week. It was a reminder to everyone who got those alerts that they should always be paying attention, said Doom, the NWS meteorologist. 'This may not be like the last time,' Doom said.
