Latest news with #KerrCountyJudge
CBS News
09-07-2025
- CBS News
Texas flood alerts were delayed as officials waited for authorization, former Kerr County official says
Questions have emerged over whether there was sufficient warning ahead of flooding in Central Texas that has killed over 100 people, with many focusing on a lack of an alert system in hard-hit Kerry County. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, a top local government official, said in the wake of the flooding that the area does "not have a warning system." When pressed about emergency alerts at news conferences, several officials refused to answer directly and instead said they were focused on finding the victims. But John David Trolinger, Kerr County's former IT director, tells CBS News he helped install CodeRED — a third-party alert system that costs the county about $25,000 a year — sometime around 2009, and provided recordings in which first responders can be heard asking the system be activated in the early morning hours of July 4. When he woke up on Friday around 1 a.m., Tolinger said he immediately tuned into emergency radio transmissions. The nearby Guadalupe River was rising fast, and people were in danger, he said. By 3:26 a.m., firefighters warned the dispatcher that certain areas had become impassable. "That's an emergency," Trolinger told CBS News. The CodeRED system allows prerecorded voice messages and text messages to be sent to phones registered to receive the alerts. Trolinger recorded the moment volunteer firefighters requested a CodeRED alert be sent. It came as early as 4:22 a.m., but dispatchers delayed because they needed special authorization. "Is there any way we can send a code red out to our Hunt residents asking them to find higher ground or stay home?" one firefighter is heard saying in recordings Trolinger gave CBS News. "Stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor," the dispatcher responds. The river continued to rise, and Trolinger's recordings show emergency responders calling in various emergencies, such as cars and RVs with people still inside being swept away. By 5:11 a.m., as first responders were carrying out rescue operations in the flood waters, the CodeRED alert still hadn't been sent. "I didn't know who was in dispatch," Trolinger said, recalling the morning of July Fourth. "It's been an hour. Someone should have been standing — someone should have gotten up and been there to say, 'OK, send the code red.'" Trolinger has been retired for six years, and told CBS News he doesn't know who is responsible for approving the emergency alerts anymore. But when he was working, he said it was the sheriff's responsibility. The sheriff's office did not respond to CBS News' request for comment. Trolinger told CBS News he even tried calling the dispatchers himself, but said the phone lines were jammed and he figured it might make things worse. "I thought, 'Man, someone could die because I'm there arguing with a dispatcher that doesn't know who I am or remember my name,'" he said. "And there was no way I was gonna interrupt their process because it's, you know, it's five o'clock, someone's gotta be in dispatch besides just the night, the overnight people." Although there were no alerts sent by local government officials in Kerr County or neighboring Bandera County, CBS News analysis shows there were 22 warnings sent by the National Weather Service for Kerr County and the Kerrville area. Among those was a 4:03 a.m. alert sent to Bandera and Kerr counties that said, in part, "This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!" and "Move to higher ground now! This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order." But many people in the area say they never received any warnings. Among them, the Roberson family, who told CBS News they're lucky to be alive after flood waters forced them out of their home in the middle of the night. The family became separated, and Phil Roberson said he rode out the storm on the roof of their house. "It's just cars floating at the house, and there's cars bouncing off the house, and I had no idea where they were," he said. Jack Roberson, 15, and his mother, Lindsay Roberson, tried to drive away, but the water rose too fast, and he was forced to grab onto a tree to keep from being swept away. An 18-minute recording shows Jack Roberson's legs underwater as trees and other debris engulfed him. But the family said they don't plan on moving. "We probably will run a few drills and talk about where we're going. Getting separated was awful." Phil Roberson said.
The Independent
05-07-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
13 reported dead and more missing, including girls from a summer camp, after catastrophic Texas flooding
At least 13 people have been reported dead and many more are missing, including girls from a Christian summer camp, after catastrophic river flooding hit central Texas late Thursday. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 13 people have been killed in the flooding, The Associated Press reported. A search is underway for more than 20 girls missing from a nearby camp, according to the AP. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly told reporters one of those killed had been found 'completely naked' and without identification. The Kerr County Sheriff's Office confirmed fatalities but declined to release further information until next of kin had been notified. Those reported missing included girls from Camp Mystic, according to The Statesman's Tony Plohetski. He wrote on social media the camp said it had notified parents whose children were not yet accounted for. An image, sent to local station KSAT, showed girls in the Kerr County camp wading through water overnight. Law enforcement has responded to dozens of emergency calls and one man told KABB his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children were lost, along with their house. Nearby, in Ingram, an RV park had been swept away. Search and rescue efforts and evacuations were underway on Friday afternoon as Kerrville residents braced for more rain. Kerr County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Clint Morris told the station it is 'an extremely active scene, countywide.' 'This may be a once-in-a-lifetime flood' for the county, he said, noting authorities have responded to multiple calls for high-water rescues. The state has called in the National Guard to assist in the efforts. Kelly later told reporters the county does 'not have a warning system.' The floods came while people were asleep. As many as 10 inches of rain fell in the area, causing the flash flooding of the Guadalupe River. The river rose to nearly 35 feet on Friday, reaching its second-highest height on record. An additional one to three inches of rain are expected to fall before they subside on Friday night. The flooding comes as residents in the Northeast were spending their Fourth of July holiday cleaning up from strong thunderstorms that swept through the region Thursday night, bringing heavy rain, wind and hail. The storms are being blamed for at least three deaths in central New Jersey, including two men in Plainfield who died after a tree fell onto a vehicle they were traveling in during the height of the storm, according to a city Facebook post. The men were ages 79 and 25, officials said. They were not immediately publicly identified. 'Our hearts are heavy today,' Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said in a statement. 'This tragedy is a sobering reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of life.' The city canceled its planned July Fourth parade, concert and fireworks show. Mapp said the 'devastating' storms had left 'deep scars and widespread damage' in the community of more than 54,000 people and it was a time to 'regroup and focus all of our energy on recovery.' Continuing power outages and downed trees were reported Friday throughout southern New England, where some communities received large amounts of hail. There were reports of cars skidding off the road in northeastern Connecticut.
ABC News
04-07-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Texas floods leave 13 dead and more than 20 girls missing at summer camp
Thunderstorms and torrential rain have triggered deadly flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in south-central Texas in the US, killing at least 13 people and leaving more than 20 girls from a summer camp missing, according to local authorities. The US National Weather Service declared a flash-flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, located in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 105 kilometres north-west of San Antonio, following heavy downpours measuring up to 300 millimetres of rain. Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders. "This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time … [and] could not be predicted, even with the radar," Mr Rice said. "This happened within less than a two-hour span." The Kerr County Sheriff's Office reported 13 people were found dead in "catastrophic flooding" in the area. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told a late-afternoon news conference that authorities were searching for 23 girls listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children who were at a summer camp when it was swept by floodwaters at about 4am, local time. Most of the campers were safe, authorities said, but they could not immediately be evacuated because roads were made impassable by high waters. "Everybody is doing everything in their power to get these kids out," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top elected local official, said at a news briefing on the disaster hours earlier. He said scattered residential subdivisions, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds were hit hardest. Mr Patrick said the Guadalupe River rose 8 metres in 45 minutes in the midst of heavy downpours deluging the region. Search teams were flying 14 helicopters and a dozen drones over the area, in addition to hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground conducting rescues from trees and swift-flowing water. "Additional rain is forecast in those areas," Mr Patrick said. "Even if the rain is light, more flooding can occur in those areas. "There is an ongoing threat for possible flash flooding from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours in addition to the continued risks in west and central Texas." Personnel from the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were activated to assist local authorities in confronting the crisis, officials said. Reuters
Reuters
04-07-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Texas flash flooding kills at least 13 people, leaves 20-plus young campers missing
July 4 (Reuters) - Thunderstorms and torrential rain triggered deadly flash flooding on Friday along the Guadalupe River in south-central Texas, killing at least 13 people and leaving more than 20 girls from a summer camp missing, according to local authorities. The U.S. National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, located in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of San Antonio, following heavy downpours measuring up to a foot of rain. Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders. "This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time that could not be predicted, even with the radar," Rice said. "This happened within less than a two-hour span." The Kerr County Sheriff's Office reported 13 people were found dead in "catastrophic flooding" in the area. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told a late-afternoon news conference that authorities were searching for 23 girls listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children who were at a summer camp when it was swept by floodwaters at around 4 a.m. local time. Most of the campers were safe, authorities said, but they could not immediately be evacuated because roads were made impassable by high waters. "Everybody is doing everything in their power to get these kids out," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top elected local official, said at a news briefing on the disaster hours earlier. He said scattered residential subdivisions, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds were hardest hit. Patrick said the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet (8 m) in 45 minutes in the midst of heavy downpours deluging the region. Search teams were flying 14 helicopters and a dozen drones over the area, in addition to hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground conducting rescues from trees and swift-flowing water. "Additional rain is forecast in those areas," Patrick said. "Even if the rain is light, more flooding can occur in those areas. There is an ongoing threat for possible flash flooding from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours in addition to the continued risks in west and central Texas." Personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were activated to assist local authorities in confronting the crisis, officials said.
