Texas, Kerr County and Flooding
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The Texas Tribune on MSNWeather warnings gave officials a 3 hour, 21 minute window to save lives in Kerr County. What happened then remains unclear. - MSNThree hours and 21 minutes. That’s how much time passed from when the National Weather Service sent out its first flash flood warning for part of Kerr County to when the first flooding reports came in from low-lying water crossings.
Using Fredericksburg as a proxy for the region, the average July rainfall over the last about 40 years is 2.2 inches. But most of the time, July seems to be closer to either extreme, whether it’s less than an inch or more than four.
In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.
While Kerr County officials say they didn’t know how bad the July 4 flooding would be, it warned residents nearly eight years ago to “be flood aware” about the ongoing potential
Since 2016, the topic of a "flood warning system" for Kerr County has come up at 20 different county commissioners' meetings, according to minutes. The idea for a system was first introduced by Kerr County Commissioner Thomas Moser and Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas in March 2016.
Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.
The search for bodies continued nearly a week after deadly flooding in Texas. With 121 people confirmed dead and at least 161 still missing, officials there are facing scrutiny. The National Weather Service issued several watches and warnings before midnight on July 3,
Roads disappeared under rushing water. Homes and businesses were submerged as the Fourth of July weekend turned into a rescue mission.
President Donald Trump spoke with Fox News host Will Cain about rescue efforts in Kerrville, Texas after catastrophic flash floods on "The Will Cain Show."