Inaction of the year, minutes of terror: more than 100 dead in Texas floods. Was it to be stopped?

As Central Texas has mourned the death of more than 100 people killed in disastrous flash floods in the weekend of July, Ker County is in a harsh headlines not only during the storm, but in those years.An investigation by CNN has revealed that despite repeated warnings and flood -based risk, Ker County lacked the most basic emergency alert infrastructure including flood warning sirens. When the Gwadalup River increased by 30 feet in a few hours on July 4, no county-wide withdrawal was ordered, and the Internal National Weather Service (NWS) does not show any interaction with the County officials with the communication federal meteorologists, even neighboring counties coordinated in real time.Results: A tragedy many experts say that it was avoidable.A deadly silenceThe National Weather Service issued its first public flash flood alert at 1.14 pm, warning of “life-threatening flash flooding of Creex and streams”. Several rapid immediate warnings were followed, in which people, including one at 4.03 pm, were urged to “now go to high land”.But in parts of the rural Ker County, the cellphone coverage was smooth, and without siren, many people did not receive alerts, especially in the camp mystic, where at least 27 campers and employees were killed.Behind the curtain, NWS employees were interacting with local emergency officers throughout the area through a real -time internal message platform. The emergency managers of other counties were engaged and asking questions. Ker County, however, was silent.Decades of inactivityThe tragedy has highlighted what many experts call the systemic failure of local preparations.In 2016, the then-Country Commissioner Tom Mozar publicly warned that Ker County was “the state’s most risky area for floods.” He called its warning system a “best marginal”.As yet:

According to Moser, proposals to install sirens often got caught in politics and public resistance. He told CNN, “Some people did not like the concept of sirens and were harassing everyone.”At a 2016 meeting, fellow commissioner Ha “Buster” Baldwin also jokingly said, “Our beautiful Kerr County thought that these curses are going in the middle of Siren night, I would have to start drinking for drinking again.Baldwin died in 2022. The sirens were never installed.Delay priceIn neighboring rest, in Texas, downwards from Guadalup, two flood sirens helped in timely withdrawal. So far there has been no death there. The topography and time were different, the experts say, but Siren helped save life.“There should have been a better system.” “What happened in Ker County was unforgivable.”Mark Rose, former manager of the River Authority, said: “We will spend more on recovery than several million, which will be the cost to put into a system of gauge.”There are just five gauges monitoring the river position in Ker County near the upper Guadalupa River Authority – almost not enough, experts say.Lack of responseWhen CNN Ker County Emergency Management Coordinator WB “Dub” reached Thomas, he replied: “I don’t have time for an interview, so I’m going to cancel this call.”Officials have since defended the lack of withdrawal orders, cited the possibility of risking people at an attempt to vacate a flash during flood. “Withdrawal is a delicate balance,” Kerville City Manager Dalton Rice said, who warned against Wolf crying.But the remaining and critics argue that the county failed to attack any balance.“You know, cell phones are good,” Mozar said. “The text messages are good. But there are places in the hill country where you cannot find any signal. This is where siren saves life.”