There Really is a Warning System, Leaders Have to Use It

Big Country Homepage interviewed Rep. Drew Darby regarding the upcoming Texas Legislative Session focusing on the horrific flash flood disasters that took so many lives. He said:

“House Bill 13 is a bill that basically grew out of a series of natural disasters, including the wildfires and the Panhandle that burned over a million acres. There is no real early warning system, and a way to notify affected people about an impending disaster.”

 Actually, there is.  

Local officials have to use it.  They also have to follow their disaster plans, set up the Emergency Operations Centers and monitor conditions, issue appropriate warnings as indicated and shift resources.

Kerr County officials owe their public an explanation as to why first responder requests to warn affected citizens were ignored.  It's called accountable local government and it is not happening for the City of Ingram.  

Their City Council met last night:

Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator William B. “Dub” Thomas was supposed to give (Council) an update after the July 4 floods, but he didn’t show because of “scheduling conflicts." 

"We have no information,” Mayor Claud Jordan said. “Nobody has called us. Nobody has contacted us.””  

Disaster response "no show" is a familiar pattern in Kerr County.  Silence and stonewalling is the exact wrong strategy when professional public officials fail miserably.  The story of what three men did that night, County Judge, Emergency Management Coordinator and County Sheriff, in response to phone calls from emergency dispatchers is out there locally, in bits and pieces.  It will eventually come out.

City of Ingram City officials have had little to no communication with Kerr County leaders for the last seventeen days, including the day of the disaster.  

The clamp is on tight if the City of Ingram's City Council can't get their employee to show up for a meeting.  Why would I say employee?  Because "Dub" Thomas indicated such in his talk with Kerrville Rotary Club

Have been the Emergency Management Coordinator for Kerr County and the City Of Ingram since November 2015

There's a very strange narrative going for people with a background in disaster planning and response and it does not bode well for citizens.

Update 7-23-25:  KHOU reported:

Code Red is Kerr County’s emergency notification system that can push alerts to residents’ phones. Trolinger, who helped install the system as the county’s former IT director, says he didn’t receive a Code Red alert until after 10 a.m. July 4.

A first responder made the request at 4:22 am.  

The time for accountability, they say, will start at the state capital with the upcoming special session.

Sorry, that's a cop out.  These people work for local government and are accountable to their constituents.  That's not Greg Abbott, the Texas legislature or President Trump -- the groups covering for the local failure to warn citizens in a timely manner.  The state has taken over the recovery and clean up process so local leaders have time to do what experts do after a disaster - evaluate what happened and act on the results of that evaluation.  The public should be front and center in that accountability.  

Local leaders and the public have been left high and dry by Kerr County Commissioners Court and Ingram City Council.  

Update 7-24-25:  It turns out the people charged with managing disasters in Kerr County were asleep the early morning of July 4th.  Ingram City officials continue to voice their lack of response from Kerr County officials.

Update 7-29-25:  Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly signed a disaster declaration for Governor Greg Abbott at 1:57 pm on July 4th.  The news release associated with the disaster declaration encouraged people near rivers and creeks to immediately move to higher ground.   That less than a day late but far more than a dollar short.

Update 7-30-25:  The first panel to testify tomorrow morning has Kerr County officials:

Judge Rob Kelly, Kerr County 

Sheriff Larry L. Leitha, Kerr County 

William B. “Dub” Thomas, Kerr County

Will the public finally hear what they did/did not do the night/morning of the flash flood disaster, the one they were charged with addressing as part of their job duties?  It's been 26 days and they have given no account to local citizens or governmental bodies.  That's piss poor.  

I hope the state hearing is not a "white wash" from Texas Republicans.  Leaders failed to fulfill their basic duties and people died as a direct result.

Those interested in the public hearing can find information on the event here, which includes a link for viewing the video of the meeting.

Update 7-31-25:  Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas spoke for the first time since the event about his actions that day.  Thomas emphasized he set up IPAWS for Kerr County.  He let the public know that he fell ill on July 2nd and took the day off on July 3rd.  The hearing provided no information on emergency dispatch's efforts to reach Thomas the morning of the disaster.  Thomas said his wife awoke him at 5:30 am, well past the time to issue life saving alerts.  

Questions not covered include:  What communication efforts failed prior to the successful one?  What emergency management backup does the county have when a key person is ill?  

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 8-24-25:  Parents of the campers killed by flood waters met with Governor Abbott in the days before their testimony to the Texas legislature.

"Cile's life ended, not because of an unavoidable act of nature, but because of preventable failures..."

Failures for which their has been no public accountability to date, despite promises by Governor Coach Abbott to take action.

Update 10-15-25:  The Texas Legislature will establish two more committees to look at the deadly flash flood event of July 4. 

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.