As of 10/7, Kerr County has suffered the highest casualties from the devastating floods that swept through Texas last weekend. 60 adults and 36 children have been confirmed dead. 5 girls and a counselor from the Mystic summer camp in the county remain missing.
Mystic, one of several camps along the Guadalupe River, housed approximately 750 girls when the flood hit on the morning of 4/7. Search and rescue efforts have been ongoing ever since. Hundreds of emergency personnel from Kerr County and surrounding areas are sifting through the debris, but no further survivors have been found.
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Emergency personnel search for missing people after flooding in Kerr County, Texas on 9/7. Photo: AFP |
Emergency personnel search for missing people after flooding in Kerr County, Texas on 9/7. Photo: AFP
Texas officials are facing mounting criticism over reports of delayed disaster warnings.
ABC News reported today that a firefighter in Ingram, a town upstream on the Guadalupe River, requested the Kerr County Sheriff's Office issue a warning to residents of the nearby Hunt community about the impending flood at 4:22 a.m. on 4/7.
"The Guadalupe Schumacher sign on Highway 39 is underwater. Is there any way to send out a CodeRed alert to Hunt residents to get them to higher ground or to stay inside their homes?", the firefighter asked.
"Stand by, we need to get permission from higher-ups", the Kerr County Sheriff's Office dispatcher replied.
According to KSAT, no alerts were sent through Kerr County's CodeRed system for 90 minutes after the request. Some residents only received warning messages at 10 a.m., by which time the floodwaters had already swept hundreds away.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said officials will review the entire incident and address why many people did not receive timely warnings.
The White House said President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Texas on 11/7. He described the flooding as a "once-in-a-hundred-year tragedy that nobody anticipated" and has declared a major disaster for Kerr County to free up federal resources for the area.
Nhu Tam (AFP, CNN)
