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On 06 Jul 2025, Rudy Canoza <
rudy@phil.hendrie.con> posted some news:r0CaQ.187188$
MPn6.93831@fx02.iad:
Texas officials are questioning the actions of the National Weather
Service leading up to Fridayâs deadly floods, as fellow
meteorologists defend the agency.
"The Independent is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias
Rating of Lean Left. "
Well Rudy? Did you let Joaquin Castro make a fool of you again?
The National Weather Service shared a timeline of alerts sent ahead of catastrophic flooding in Texas after an NYT report questioned whether
staffing shortages may have made it harder for forecasters to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.
The NWS said that on the morning of July 3, the office in Austin/San
Antonio held forecast briefings for emergency management and issued a
Flood Watch that afternoon. The NWS said Flash Flood Warnings were issued
on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, "giving
preliminary lead times of more than three hours before warning criteria
were met."
An unedited timeline provided by the NWS is below.
The National Water Center Flood Hazard Outlook issued on Thursday July 3rd morning indicated an expansion of flash flood potential to include
Kerrville, TX and surrounding areas.
A Flood Watch was issued by NWS Austin/San Antonio at 1:18PM CT on
Thursday, in effect through Friday morning.
The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) issued three Mesoscale Precipitation Discussions for the excessive rainfall event as early as 6:10PM CDT
Thursday indicating the potential for Flash Flooding.
The National Water Center Area Hydrologic Discussion (AHD) #144 at issued
6:22 PM CDT on 7/3/2025 messaged locally considerable flood wording for
areas north and west of San Antonio, including the city of Kerrville.
The first Flash Flood Warning for the event was issued at 11:41 PM CDT
Thursday for Bandera County.
At 1:14 AM CDT Friday: Flash Flood Warning with a considerable tag was
issued for Bandera and Kerr Counties. Flash Flood Warnings with the Impact-Based Warning tags Considerable or Catastrophic denote high-
damage threats and will automatically trigger Wireless Emergency Alerts
(WEAs) on enabled mobile devices, ensuring only the most life-threatening
flash flood events prompt urgent public notifications. All alerts are also
sent out over NOAA Weather Radio.
First reports from Kerr County Sheriffs Office of flooding at low water crossings had 201 minutes of lead time (4:35 AM CDT).
Flash Flood Warning was upgraded to a Flash Flood Emergency for South-
central Kerr County, Including Hunt, as early as 4:03 AM Friday.
The 5:00 AM CT July 4th National Water Center Area Hydrologic Discussion
#146 included concern for widespread considerable flooding through the
day. The Flood Hazard Outlook was also upgraded to considerable and catastrophic.
Flash Flood Emergency issued for the Guadalupe River at 5:34 AM CDT.
The NWS said it was "heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr
County" and that it "remains committed to our mission to serve the
American public through our forecasts and decision support services."
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Saturday it was
difficult for forecasters to predict just how much rain would fall. She
said the Trump administration would make it a priority to upgrade National Weather Service technology used to deliver warnings.
Local NWS office had extra staffers
NWS Meteorologist Jason Runyen said the National Weather Service office in
New Braunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio and the surrounding areas, had extra staff on duty during the storms.
Where the office would typically have two forecasters on duty during clear weather, they had up to five on staff.
There were extra people in here that night, and that's typical in every weather service office you staff up for an event and bring people in on overtime and hold people over, Runyen said.
Kerr County has no flood warning system
Officials in Texas are facing growing scrutiny over a lack of a reliable warning system in the area.
During a news conference early Friday morning, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly
said he didn't know why the camps hadn't been evacuated, but that the
county did not have an early warning system or outdoor sirens to alert
people to flooding conditions.
Weve looked into it before
The public reeled at the cost, Kelly said.
He said he didnt know what kind of safety and evacuation plans the camps
may have had.
What I do know is the flood hit the camp first, and it came in the middle
of the night. I dont know where the kids were," he said. "I dont know
what kind of alarm systems they had. That will come out in time."
KXAN-TV, the NBC affiliate in Austin, reported that in 2018, Kerr County
and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority applied for a $1 million grant for
a flood warning system, but the grant was not selected. Citing meeting
minutes, KXAN said the county was still pursuing grant options in 2020 and 2023.
NWS alerts triggered Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) on enabled mobile devices, but many summer camps do not allow campers to bring mobile
devices to camp.
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/national-weather-service- alert-timeline-texas-flooding/3879084/
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