Photos of Camp Mystic for girls after the deadly flash floods in Texas
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Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Critical mistake made by county officials during Texas floods that could have saved countless lives
Officials in the Texas county where more than 100 people have died from the July 4 flash flood did not use technology that would have sent Amber Alert-like messages to everyone in the vicinity of the Guadalupe River, according to a bombshell new report. Kerr County officials did not use the more powerful notification tool they had even after a National Weather Service meteorologist warned them about the potential for catastrophic risk, per The Washington Post. The meteorologist, identified as Jason Runyen, posted his warnings in a Slack channel that local officials and reporters were in. He was unfortunately proven right. In the early morning hours of July 4 the river rose at least 30 feet in Hunt, Texas, near where Camp Mystic was. More than two dozen children and staff from the all-girl Christian summer camp were killed. Across the county, about 160 people thought to be washed away by the flood remain missing. Experts say Kerr County officials could have used the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, or IPAWS, to save more people who were in bed sleeping at the time the waters were rising. IPAWS are similar to Amber Alerts in that they force phones to vibrate and emit a loud, jarring tone as long as they're on and have a signal. Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, a professor at the University of Central Florida who researches emergency management, told the Post that local authorities not sending IPAWS messages to targeted areas was a critical mistake. The National Weather Service did send alerts to Kerr County through IPAWS, but Sadiq argued that if they had also come from local officials, residents would have trusted them more and perhaps listened. 'If the alert had gone out, there might be one or two people who might have still been able to receive that message, who now, through word of mouth, alert people around them,' Sadiq said. He spoke about the phenomenon of people in frequently-flooded areas like this area of Texas ignoring alerts because they come so often. And usually, they amount to not that much. The National Weather Service issued 22 alerts through IPAWS on July 4, and each message used increasingly dire language. County officials, though, also have the added knowledge of the area that federal weather forecasters might not. If they had sent IPAWS alerts earlier, they could have described risks to certain neighborhoods or provided more specific guidance on how to stay safe, experts said. Instead, county officials used a more limited warning system called CodeRED. When activated, it send voice messages to landlines listed in the White Pages and text messages to cellphones of people who have signed up, the Post reported. Some locals didn't get CodeRED messages until 10:55am, according to screenshots obtained by the Post. That was over five hours after the river reached its highest recorded level. It's unclear why Kerr County leaders opted not to use IPAWS in the early stages of the July 4 natural disaster, especially when they've used it in the past to warn about much less dangerous threats. William B. 'Dub' Thomas, Kerr County's emergency management coordinator, used IPAWS last July to warn that the Guadalupe River could rise four feet, the Post reported. The alert told residents to avoid low-level river crossings and move their belongings away from the river. That flash flood came and went with no major injuries. Kerr County officials did eventually use IPAWS; it was activated on July 6, two days after the worst of the flooding. That alert was sent out because they were worried about another round of rising water levels. Daily Mail approached Thomas for comment on the disaster response. A communications team representing state and local officials said in a statement to the Post that county leaders are focused primarily on rescue and reunification and are 'committed to a transparent and full review of processes and protocols.' This revelation that IPAWS went unused comes as Kerr County officials are facing harsher scrutiny as time goes on. During a Tuesday press conference, one reporter asked Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha if anyone at emergency management office had been awake to push a button to send an emergency alert. Leitha snapped back, 'Sir, it's not that easy to just push a button. And we've told you several times.'
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Vermont town flooded on same day for third consecutive year
A quaint Vermont town has been inundated with biblical flooding on the same day for the third consecutive year, causing havoc for locals. In an eerie case of Deja-vu the town of Sutton was hit with five inches of rain over a few hours on Thursday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Officials in the town of, and across the state, had been bracing for July 10 hoping they would not see a repeat of floods that ravaged the area in 2023 and 2024. But an awful coincidence saw their worst fears come true. Despite the flooding not hitting the levels of devastation seen in previous years, Seymour told The Boston Globe : 'Three years in a row is just insane.' Images captured on the ground show dirt roads left washed away and parts of a local bridge having collapsed under the water. Others show vehicles in the area left stranded in thick mud and the Calendar Brook having burst. Seymour added that four people had to be pulled from their properties by water rescue teams. Two of those had moved to the second floor over their home as floodwaters started to climb. He added that some roads were under four feet of water . Seymour said that the town had been working on improving their storm infrastructure, by increasing the size of road culverts. 'And it just seems like the next year it wasn't enough, I don't know how you build infrastructure for rain events like this', he added. Nearby Lyndonville Fire Department had also deployed their fire crews to the area to help out. There was no injuries or deaths reported. Resident George Boone told NBC5 that he has come to dread July 10 due to the deluge that typically follows it. He said: 'Last year, I had about 30 feet of shoreline and the river went through it. I've lost another four feet of river this time. 'I haven't been able to fix it, its just added to it now', he added that he counted himself lucky for having not totally lost his home. State officials opened the Vermont Emergency Operations Center to track flash flooding across the northeast of the state. In a post to social media advising of road closures on Friday morning, the Sutton Volunteer Fire Department signed off: 'Hopefully this is strike 3 and we are OUT!!'. There's no scientific reason for a flood to occur on the same day each year, but summer storms make flooding more likely in the area each July. In 2024 four people died in the floods that hit the state, and damages of the last two years have exceeded $1 billion and left hundreds homeless. It comes after the Hill Country area of Texas was hit with devastating floods, the death toll of which has risen to at least 120 people with 170 still missing.
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Eerie 'Biblical plague' keeps hitting quaint Vermont town on the same DAY each year
A quaint Vermont town has been inundated with biblical flooding on the same day for the third consecutive year, causing havoc for locals. In an eerie case of Deja-vu the town of Sutton was hit with five inches of rain over a few hours on Thursday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The quick downpour caused flash flooding and left parts of the community severely damaged. Local Fire Chief Kyle Seymour believes around 20 homes were cut off as the nearby Calendar Brook burst its bank. Officials in the town of, and across the state, had been bracing for July 10 hoping they would not see a repeat of floods that ravaged the area in 2023 and 2024. But an awful coincidence saw their worst fears come true. Despite the flooding not hitting the levels of devastation seen in previous years, Seymour told The Boston Globe: 'Three years in a row is just insane.' Images captured on the ground show dirt roads left washed away and parts of a local bridge having collapsed under the water. Others show vehicles in the area left stranded in thick mud and the Calendar Brook having burst. Seymour added that four people had to be pulled from their properties by water rescue teams. Two of those had moved to the second floor over their home as floodwaters started to climb. He added that some roads were under four feet of water. Seymour said that the town had been working on improving their storm infrastructure, by increasing the size of road culverts. 'And it just seems like the next year it wasn't enough, I don't know how you build infrastructure for rain events like this', he added. Nearby Lyndonville Fire Department had also deployed their fire crews to the area to help out. There was no injuries or deaths reported. Resident George Boone told NBC5 that he has come to dread July 10 due to the deluge that typically follows it. He said: 'Last year, I had about 30 feet of shoreline and the river went through it. I've lost another four feet of river this time. 'I haven't been able to fix it, its just added to it now', he added that he counted himself lucky for having not totally lost his home. In 2024 four people died in the floods that hit the state, and damages of the last two years have exceeded $1 billion. The aftermath of Thursday's rain is seen here State officials opened the Vermont Emergency Operations Center to track flash flooding across the northeast of the state. In a post to social media advising of road closures on Friday morning, the Sutton Volunteer Fire Department signed off: 'Hopefully this is strike 3 and we are OUT!!'. There's no scientific reason for a flood to occur on the same day each year, but summer storms make flooding more likely in the area each July. In 2024 four people died in the floods that hit the state, and damages of the last two years have exceeded $1 billion and left hundreds homeless. It comes after the Hill Country area of Texas was hit with devastating floods, the death toll of which has risen to at least 120 people with 170 still missing.
