Texas mayor hurls state's GOP officials under the bus over denied sirens
Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. told MSNBC that he's grieving after his town was hit with feet of rain in a short period. But he's also speaking out about the town's efforts to prevent such a large loss of life.
Host Katy Tur cited Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX), who claimed that the state would fund a flood alert system along the Guadalupe River. Her comments came as news to Herring.
"Your report is the first time I've heard that the state is going to help us have sirens up and down the river," the mayor said. "The truth is, our community, or the county government, looked into that in 2017. And from what I heard, their grand application was denied. So, I wasn't in government at that time, but it sounds like we talk about it, we ask for help, and we were denied before."
Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) were both in office when that application was submitted in 2017.
Herring said he is a longtime resident of the city and was there when it flooded before, including in the large 1987 flood. He said that he was alerted to the flooding due to a call from the city manager at 5:30 a.m. CDT. The city manager stated that he wasn't informed about the flood alert when the first National Weather Service warning was issued at 1:14 a.m.
Instead, he learned of the flood dangers at approximately 4:45 a.m. At 3 a.m. he said that he was jogging along the river to keep an eye on the situation and at 4 a.m., things all appeared "fine," he said in a Fox4 News interview.
The mayor stated that an investigation would be conducted and that the community would engage in a conversation about what went wrong and the plan to prevent it from happening again.
"I also need to let you know: I checked the weather that night. Yeah, I am positive that the owner of Camp Mystic checked the weather that night. I'm positive the owner of Heart of the Hills Camp for Girls checked the weather that night. That night we had a very slim chance of rain the next day. Yeah, we had no flash flood warnings. It happened so fast," Herring added.
A flash flood "warning" means that a flood is likely or already underway. A "watch" means that the conditions are perfect for one to happen.
NBC 5 reviewed the National Weather Service's alerts sent on Thursday. They were warning of "potentially dangerous flooding in Kerr County" approximately 12 hours before the storm hit.
On Sunday, Abbott complained in a press conference that the warning of a "potentially dangerous flood" did not convey the risks.
“The amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts,” Abbott said.
Forecasts can't predict the precise amounts of rain that will fall.
The National Weather Service alert sent out at 1:32 a.m., read in part, "IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks."
See the interview below or at the link here.
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