‘Nobody came for us’: Lawmakers hear testimony in Kerrville following floods

KERRVILLE, Texas (KLTV) - State lawmakers went to Kerrville on Thursday to hear testimony from officials and victims of the Hill Country Floods as they work on how to respond during the special session.

The Texas House and Senate Select Committees on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding met jointly one week after they allowed testimony in Austin. The floods have resulted in at least 136 deaths.

“This hearing’s going to be a little more emotional and a little harder than the last one, rightfully so,” said State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock). “What I hope that you gain from this for those that are in those periods of extreme emotions of loss, that we provide just a little bit of comfort that you know that we care.”

In response to the floods, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said there should be improved flood warning systems, stronger support for emergency management officials in rural areas, and better broadband coverage.

“This was a storm unlike anything seen in our county before,” Kelly said.

“We received no alerts suggesting an extreme weather event was imminent,” Kelly added. “For context, we receive hundreds of alerts during the summer. This past July, we had over 80.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-Texas), who was active governor on July 4, questioned Kelly’s actions that day.

“Judge Kelly, I never saw you on day one,” Patrick said. “I don’t know where you were on day one on July 4, but you should have been here, you should have been here directing that response. That’s your responsibility.”

“On the way to the church I saw that two of my neighbor’s homes were gone,” said a resident who experienced the floods. She said Travis County officials did not show up to help.

“Nobody came, nobody came for us. Nobody.”

“We can all talk about how woefully inadequate the Travis County response was,” another resident said, adding there should be someone to monitor tributaries. “We have land with private dams that are very old. I’m not coming here with pitchforks but they all broke. In addition to the rain, the level of damage was catastrophic.”

Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator William Thomas said he felt sick the week of the floods, adding he did not participate in coordination calls on July 3. Around 5:30 a.m. on July 4, Thomas said he was awakened and went to the sheriff’s office.

“There was no visible flooding on my drive into the office, but it quickly became clear that the situation was escalating,” Thomas said.

“To those who ask, ‘What would you have done differently?’ The honest answer is that based on the data we had at the time, there was no clear indicator that a catastrophic flood was imminent,” Thomas added. “The rain fell in remote areas with limited gauge data. Forecasts were not materially different from past events that did not result in flooding. The situation evolved faster than anyone could have predicted.”

“We will come up with some solutions, but the work will not be done,” said Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock). “Our commitment is to continue beyond this session and these hearings into the next session and the session after that and continue to improve and do better.”