Kerr County missing drops to 3
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8hon MSN
After flash floods swept through central Texas in July 2025, people online searched for reasons why the disaster was so deadly.
The Texas Tribune on MSN11d
Did fiscal conservatism block plans for a new flood warning system in Kerr County?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.
The Texas Legislature is scheduled to convene Monday for a special session, which now includes flood-related issues.
Officials balked at the cost for installing a siren warning system and the potential for sirens to blare in the middle of the night and wake up
Years before the flooding took more than 90 lives in Kerr County, Texas, local officials knew residents faced threats from rapidly rising water. They started planning a flood warning system, one that could alert residents when a flash flood was imminent.
The Texas Tribune on MSN10d
Weather warnings gave officials a 3 hour, 21 minute window to save lives in Kerr County. What happened then remains unclear.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.
12don MSN
A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract for a flood warning system that would have been used to help with emergency response, local officials said.
Less than 5% of homes in the county's FEMA floodplain had flood coverage, well below the national average. Uptake was even worse in other areas that flooded.
Texas lawmakers’ inaction on flood prevention often hits rural and economically disadvantaged communities the hardest, experts said.
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.
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