Abbott: Buck Stops with You, Not Football Fans

The death toll in the July 4th floods came from a failed warning system.  People in harms way did not know in time to leave the banks of the Guadalupe River or they failed to act on any warnings.  Texas Governor Greg Abbott compared people asking questions about the disaster response to disgruntled football fans after a team loss.  Abbott may want to pick a phone and call his Florida counterpart.

Is a weather disaster a play, a set of downs, a quarter, or a whole game?  Coaches make adjustments along the way.  What adjustments did the Governor's office make as the July 4th flood disaster unfolded.

The game was not televised and there were no people in the stands of Governor Abbott's "football game."  The public only knows what Coach Abbott and his team told us.  

Four years ago the Governor sang a different tune after hundreds of Texans died in a different weather disaster.

Today, many are angry for the same reasons, a system broke.  The public deserves answers not a coach dodging out the door to avoid questions.  There is only one time to give answers, that is the present.  

Abbott does not have to do it all.  He has a team of people capable of and charged with that very duty.  A basic in disaster preparedness is how did we do?  What went well?  What needs to be improved or changed to work better next time?  Get 'er done.

Update 7-10-25:  CNN reported:

Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem didn’t authorize FEMA’s deployment of Urban Search and Rescue teams until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began, multiple sources told CNN.

The Independent reported:

As floodwaters in Texas rose in the early morning of July 4, a local firefighter petitioned for an emergency alert to quickly be sent out...  at 4:22am, a fireman with the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department reportedly called into emergency dispatch to warn that the Guadalupe River appeared to be rapidly overshooting its banks.

The earliest CodeRED alerts appear to have reached local residents about an hour later, according to multiple local media outlets, while some reported not getting their first CodeRED alert until after 10am.

The coaches clearly failed.  

Update 7-11-25:  "Needs approval" likely resulted in more lives lost.  Less pre-positioned resources from FEMA and greater time lag in getting out critical emergency warnings.

At what point will the public learn the local response from disaster leaders?

Update 7-13-25:  Congressman Reuben Gallego said Trump II was interested in accountability.  Sorry, that does not fly, especially after he called that reporter "evil" for asking about lack of or too late warnings from local officials..  People reported:

Kerr County officials did not use the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS) — a notification tool that uses vibrations and emits a loud alert noise — even after a National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist warned them about the severity of the floods.

Kerr County officials did use the CodeRED system to issue warnings but many residents did not receive those or they came too late.  Local Kerr County officials are yet to release any information about their actions as the deadly flooding developed.  

Update 8-22-25:  Texas Tribune reported:

“Make no mistake, House Bill 1 is fundamentally a bill about failure,” said Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, when he introduced it. “The camp failed these girls. The county failed them. The river authority failed them, and in a larger sense, their government.

Missing are the consequences for the people who failed to do their job, the one they were paid for.  The Texas Senate is in go-forward, clean-up mode.  The House has two measures in the works, one on disaster preparation for camps and the other for post disaster scams.  Isn't it a scam to take money to perform a job and then not do it?

Update 10-15-25:  The Texas Legislature will establish two more committees to look at the deadly flash flood event of July 4.  And it's football season to boot.

Update 12-6-25:  The 911 calls to Kerrville Emergency Dispatch were made public.  The calls reveal increasing desperation and peril.  The calls from the 911 center to Emergency Management Officials are yet to be released.  

Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas had been on medical leave after heart surgery but returned to work on November 10th.  Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly is looking to hire help for Thomas.  The top three Kerr County officials continue to cover for each other and they are yet to produce/share an after action report.

Update 12-7-25:  Concho Valley Homepage ran the 911 call story.