KERR COUNTY – As devastating floodwaters swept through the Hill Country in the early hours of July 4, a firefighter requested a mass emergency alert to warn residents.
However, Kerr County officials took nearly six hours to send the alert, according to audio from a dispatcher obtained by a TheTXLoop source familiar with the emergency notification for residents near Hunt.
In a call to dispatch, timestamped at 4:22 a.m., a firefighter with the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department requested a CodeRED Alert.
“The Guadalupe Schumacher sign is underwater on Highway 39. Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents, asking them to find higher ground or stay home?” the firefighter asked.
CodeRED is a mass notification system used by some cities and counties to send emergency alerts to residents’ phones, provided they have signed up in advance.
“Stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor,” a Kerr County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) dispatcher replied to the request.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly told reporters on July 4 that no one had anticipated the magnitude of the flooding and that the county had no emergency alert system in place.
Yet, the audio indicates and messages sent later with the CodeRED system indicate was functional. Kerrville City Manager Joe Herring Jr. told the Texas Tribune that he received an alert on his phone from the CodeRED system at 6 a.m. on July 4.
Herring said that it was the only weather alert he received that morning.
A source told TheTXLoop that KCSO or the Kerrville Police Department did not send a CodeRED Alert to some residents until 10:04 a.m. on July 4.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha declined to provide a clear answer when asked about the alert delay on Tuesday.
“It’s not that easy, and you just push a button. OK? There’s a lot more to that, and we’ve told you several times,” Leitha said.
Leitha and other county officials have repeatedly stated that they are not ready to discuss specific aspects of the response, as their current focus remains on search and rescue operations.
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