Kerr County Officials Acknowledge Failure to Follow Emergency Plan Amid July 4 Flash Flood

An internal five‑year old emergency management plan obtained by The Texas Tribune reveals that Kerr County and the City of Kerrville failed to implement critical protocols during the catastrophic flash flooding on July 4, which claimed more than 108 lives across the county.

Key findings include:

• The county’s emergency plan, last updated in November 2020, explicitly designated flash flooding as a “highly likely” event with major public safety impacts and assigned roles to specific officials for evacuation, warnings, and shelter operations.

• Despite a flash flood watch issued on July 3 at 1:18 p.m., officials did not engage recommended actions such as increased monitoring or deploying signage. A flash flood warning followed around 1:14 a.m. on July 4, yet evacuation notifications and shelter openings were delayed or not executed.

• Disaster drills, evacuation training and personnel certifications outlined in the plan—including a blank training roster of 12 mandatory courses—were never completed.

• At the time of the flooding, top officials including the Emergency Management Director William “Dub” Thomas and Sheriff Larry Leitha were reportedly asleep, and the County Judge was out of town. No clear backup authority was documented in the plan.

• Audio from July 4 reveals that CodeRED alerts were not issued until 90 minutes after frontline requests, with some alerts delayed until after 10 a.m., long after people had been swept away.

Officials’ Response & Pending Actions

• As of this release, Kerr County officials have not responded to requests for comment on the failure to follow the emergency plan.

• At a state legislative hearing, Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas admitted no full-scale evacuation drills have ever been conducted countywide.

• The state has pledged scrutiny over the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which recently committed $1.5 million toward flood‑mitigation infrastructure, after being criticized for ignoring warning-system upgrades while holding substantial reserves.

Impact & Public Safety Overview

• The July 4 flash flood rapidly inundated neighborhoods—rising over 20 to 30 feet in under an hour—claiming at least 107 lives in Kerr County and totaling 135+ statewide fatalities.

• Camp Mystic, a summer camp along the Guadalupe River, was hit particularly hard, with 27 confirmed deaths among campers and staff.

• Search, recovery, and debris removal operations are ongoing; the number of missing persons has decreased significantly through coordinated efforts, while recovery costs are expected to top $200 million in lost property values.

Recommendations & Next Steps

1. Immediate update and activation of the emergency response plan.

2. Regular disaster training and drills to ensure readiness of all key personnel.

3. Robust public alert infrastructure, including siren systems and improved emergency communication protocols.

4. Clear backup authority designations when key officials are unavailable.

About the Emergency Plan

Created according to state guidelines and submitted to the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the plan assigns clear roles for tasks such as evacuation, medical response, warnings, sanitation, and recovery — but only in theory, as implementation was clearly lacking during the crisis.