People who lost everything describe leaving homes and express anger at poor preparedness and officials who seemed to shirk responsibility
As Texas marshals a formidable response to the flash floods that have already killed dozens, questions are now being posed about warnings that were given on Thursday and early Friday about the severity of the approaching storm and the co-ordination between local officials and the National Weather Service.
New flood alerts were issued for Texas “hill country” on Sunday, prompting rescue services to suspend the search for missing people, including at least 11 from Camp Mystic, the summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River hard hit by Friday’s flash flood.
At an early evening press briefing, Kerr county authorities said they were suspending the search and evacuating first responders from the river valley. They confirmed that 68 had died there, including 28 children. Not all have been identified, with officials still examining the bodies of 18 adults and 10 children.
No warning at all, eh? Well, the NWS did their jobs but if you have to count on podunk county officials to alert you, then I suggest you invest in a NOAA weather radio. They’re not expensive and could save your life.
Thursday, June 3. A Flood Watch for Central Texas was issued by the local National Weather Service Office in Austin/San Antonio. The watch was in effect through Friday morning and warned of the chance for rainfall totals upwards of 5 to 7 inches, which would lead to excessive runoff and flooding along rivers, creeks, and streams.
Later Thursday evening, the Weather Prediction Center highlighted the same region with an increasing threat for slow-moving thunderstorms that could dump rainfall rates of 3 inches an hour.
It was around midnight on Friday, June 4, when the first few thunderstorms began dumping heavy rainfall in central Texas. About an hour later, the first Flash Flood Warning was issued by the National Weather Service at around 1:14 a.m. This warning also included the “considerable” tag, which should have triggered wireless emergency alerts to go out to cell phones and NOAA Weather Radios.
Then at 3:35 a.m., the original warning was upgraded and included the verbiage, “Move to higher ground now. Act quickly to protect your life.” Less than 30 minutes later, the warning was upgraded again to a Flash Flood Emergency and would have triggered the wireless emergency alerts once again.
Finally, at 5:34 a.m., a Flash Flood Warning for the Guadalupe River mentioned the “large and deadly flood wave” that was observed and moving down the river. Dozens of weather alerts were issued thereafter as the flood event unfolded across central Texas.
There was plenty of warning but the incompetent emergency managers in these communities dropped the ball. Every emergency vehicle in the flood area should have been running with lights and sirens ahead of he flood and giving warning over loudspeakers. They could have woke up everyone and given them a chance to flee to high ground. Instead, the managers mostly just counted on the cell phone alert system which works very poorly in the area because there are few cell towers.
Oh, and the kids at Camp Mystic were not allowed to have cell phones.