XPost: alt.talk.weather, alt.government.employees, tx.politics
XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.guns
https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/nws-flood-warnings-reach-victims- central-texas/3879253/
After deadly floodwaters swept through Central Texas, there are growing questions about the timeline of issued weather alerts and possible gaps in
the warning system.
At a news conference on Sunday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott suggested flash
flood alerts issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) did not fully
convey the risks.
"To most people in the area, flash flooding would mean one thing, not what
it turned out to be," Abbott said. "There's the potential for flash
flooding, but there's no expectation of a water wall of almost 30 feet
high."
NBC 5 Investigates reviewed the National Weather Service's alerts sent on Thursday and found forecasters began warning of potentially dangerous
flooding in Kerr County about 12 hours ahead of the storm.
At 1:18 p.m. on July 3, the NWS flood watch warned of "isolated amounts of
5 to 8 inches" of rain, saying "creeks and streams may rise out of their banks." It warned people in flood-prone areas to "be prepared to take
action."
As the storm arrived 12 hours later, the NWS escalated the watch to a
warning.
At 1:14 a.m. on July 4, forecasters warned of "life-threatening flash
flooding" and predicted rain at a rate of "2 to 3 inches" per hour.
In a statement, the NWS told NBC 5 Investigates that their warnings
provided "preliminary lead times of more than three hours."
Troy Kimmel, an Austin-based meteorologist and emergency manager, believes
the NWS issued timely alerts with the best information available.
"This warning pointed out this is a dangerous situation, you should be
ready to take quick action, and it included Kerr County," Kimmel said.
But he said it's unclear if those warnings reached people in harm's way.
Kerr County does not have weather sirens, but the NWS said it added
keywords to the 1 a.m. warning to automatically trigger wireless alerts to
cell phones and weather radios in the area.
However, meteorologist Nestor Flecha, from our sister station Telemundo
39, pointed out that a lack of cell phone coverage and weather radios can
often limit the reach of these messages.
At Camp Mystic — where so many young girls lost their lives — a camp
policy posted online showed cell phones were "unacceptable electronic
devices" for campers. Therefore, many campers may not have had access to
phones at all.
https://media.nbcdfw.com/2025/07/iteam-070625- 03.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=1920%2C1080&w=575&h=323&crop=1
In Texas, state law requires camps to have an emergency plan for
disasters, including floods. Camps are required to practice the plan with
staff and teach campers what to do in an evacuation.
The Texas Department of State Health Services told us Camp Mystic did have
a disaster plan on file, but the state agency could not immediately
provide a copy. The state agency hoped to release that information this
week.
NBC 5 Investigates could not reach a spokesperson at Camp Mystic for a response.
There is also what meteorologists call "warning fatigue" in flood-prone
areas like the Texas Hill Country. The concern is that flash flood watches
are issued so often that people may tune them out.
"The public just gets buried in these warnings," Kimmel said. "I'm on the record for saying the National Weather Service overall in the United
States issues too many warnings. I fully believe that."
Kimmel would like an independent review of the Central Texas floods,
looking at how alerts were distributed and how emergency managers
responded.
https://media.nbcdfw.com/2025/07/vlcsnap-2025-07-06- 22h03m59s920.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=1920%2C1080&w=575&h=323&crop=1
An NWS graph from flood sensor data in Kerr County showed what happened in
the hours after that first warning; the river rose from about six feet to
more than 29 feet in just three hours.
A stunning change, forecasters said, can be hard to predict and often underestimated by people at risk.
"Unfortunately, we do not realize that, again, most people every year on average, most people are killed by flooding than by tornadoes or by
hurricanes or by severe thunderstorms," said Flecha.
How to help with Central Texas flood relief
Join NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 in our efforts to help those whose lives have
been upended by recent storms and record flooding, as well as countless
other crises. You can help by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your financial donation helps provide shelter, meals, relief
supplies, emotional support, recovery planning and other assistance during disasters like the one in Texas.
Click here to learn how to support disaster relief efforts and make a
donation to the American Red Cross
In response to questions about what people can do to help the area recover
from the deadly flood, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, a 501(c)(3) charity serving the
Texas Hill Country, has established a relief fund to support vetted local response, relief and recovery efforts. Organizers said all donations go directly to organizations working on the front lines of the July 4
flooding emergency. All donations are tax-deductible, and you will receive
a receipt for your gift. To learn more or donate, visit the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country here.
https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=420
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Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
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