Top Emergency Officials Were Asleep While Texas Flood Disaster Unfolded

Kerr County's emergency management coordinator and sheriff testified Thursday that they were asleep as catastrophic flooding ravaged their jurisdiction on July 4, killing more than 130 people, including 27 children at Camp Mystic, while the county judge was out of town 100 miles away during the disaster's critical opening hours.

The shocking revelations came during the first public testimony by the three officials responsible for Kerr County's emergency response, as state lawmakers held a joint hearing in Kerrville to investigate the deadliest inland flood in decades. Their admissions of absence during the disaster's onset have intensified scrutiny over whether earlier warnings could have saved lives in the Texas Hill Country tragedy.

"Where Were You When People Were Dying?"

William "Dub" Thomas, Kerr County's emergency management coordinator since 2015, told legislators he was homesick and asleep when the Guadalupe River burst its banks in the early morning hours of July 4. He acknowledged missing two critical state emergency management calls on July 3 and said his wife finally woke him around 5:30 a.m. on July 4 after receiving a call from Kerrville's emergency coordinator.

By that time, Camp Mystic and other riverside communities were already underwater.

"I was awakened around 5:30 a.m. on July 4th by my wife following a call from the city of Kerrville EMC (Emergency Management Coordinator) Jeremy Hughes requesting that I mobilize," Thomas testified. But other officials confirmed that summer camps along the overflowing river had already been devastated by then.

Sheriff Larry Leitha similarly acknowledged being asleep when his deputies began receiving emergency calls. He said his office started getting 911 calls between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Friday, hours after the National Weather Service had issued flash-flood warnings. A chief deputy contacted him at 4:20 a.m., but Leitha admitted he didn't immediately try to reach the county judge.

County Judge Missing in Action

Perhaps most damaging was the testimony of County Judge Rob Kelly, who serves as the head of county emergency management. Kelly admitted he was at a house on Lake Travis near Austin—about 100 miles away—when the disaster struck.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who was serving as acting governor that day while Gov. Greg Abbott was out of town and expressed his frustration directly to Kelly during the hearing.

"Judge Kelly, I never saw you on day one," Patrick said, prompting applause from the packed audience. "Everyone was here that day working their ass off, and you were nowhere to be found".

Kelly's response was stark in its brevity: "And I wasn't. And I wasn't".

A Timeline of Missed Opportunities

The officials' testimony revealed a cascade of communication failures during the disaster's critical first hours. Emergency dispatchers received increasingly desperate calls starting at 2:08 a.m., when a caller asked about road conditions. By 2:53 a.m., the River Inn Resort and Conference Center reported seeing high water.

The situation escalated rapidly: by 3:30 a.m., floodwaters were covering roads, and a family was stranded on a roof requesting air evacuation. Camp Mystic called for evacuation at 3:57 a.m., and deputies later reported hearing children screaming in the river.

Despite these escalating emergencies, no Code Red alert was sent to county residents until 5:07 a.m.—45 minutes after a volunteer fire chief requested it at 4:22 a.m.. The delay proved fatal for many who could have evacuated earlier.

Warnings That Went Unheeded

The National Weather Service had issued a flood watch for Kerr County on July 3, with increasingly urgent flood warnings beginning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Yet Thomas testified that "there was no clear indicator that a catastrophic flood was imminent" based on the data available.

"The rain fell in remote areas with limited gauge data; forecasts were not materially different from past events that did not result in flooding," Thomas explained.

However, neighboring Kendall County demonstrated a markedly different response. Judge Shane Stolarczyk testified that their emergency management coordinator was up at midnight with an "uneasy feeling," monitoring the situation and activating their emergency operations center at 4 a.m.

"The Three Guys Responsible Were Effectively Unavailable"

State legislators expressed frustration at the apparent leadership vacuum during the disaster's critical opening moments. The death toll in Kerr County alone has reached at least 108 people, including scores of children.

"One of the problems that this process is showing is we have a lot of folks who have titles, but when the time came to act, they did not do so in a timely fashion," said Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo.

State Sen. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, was even more direct: "The three guys in Kerr County who were responsible for sounding the alarm were effectively unavailable. Am I hearing that right?"

A County Without Warning Systems

The hearing also revealed that Kerr County lacks a comprehensive flood warning system along the Guadalupe River, despite previous opportunities for state and local agencies to fund such infrastructure. Kerrville Mayor Bill Blackburn said he wants to see a warning system in place by next summer and needs state assistance to build it.

The absence of sirens or other automated warning systems meant that residents and visitors had no way to know about the approaching wall of water until it was too late. Many victims were caught completely off guard, including children at multiple summer camps along the river.

Emergency Plan Left on the Shelf

Further investigation revealed that Kerr County failed to follow key parts of its own disaster preparedness plan during the flood response. The five-year-old plan, required by the state, detailed when additional monitoring should take place and who was responsible for alerting the public to evacuate.

Thomas acknowledged that he had missed critical state emergency management calls on July 3, saying he had requested the day off "to fulfill a commitment to my elderly father" and was dealing with a "progressing illness". However, he provided no details about arrangements for coverage during his absence.

The missed calls meant that Thomas was unaware of any elevated weather risks beyond typical summer conditions in the region.

A Pattern of Unpreparedness

The officials' testimony painted a picture of a county emergency management system that was fundamentally unprepared for the scale of disaster that struck. Despite serving a region known for flash flooding—located in what meteorologists call "Flash Flood Alley"—key personnel were unavailable when tragedy struck.

Thomas said he drove to the sheriff's office after being awakened, noting: "There was no visible flooding on my drive into the office, but it quickly became clear that the situation was escalating". By then, rescue operations had been underway for more than two hours.

The Human Cost of Leadership Failures

The death toll from the July 4 floods now stands at at least 134 people across Central Texas, with Kerr County bearing the brunt of the casualties. Among the dead are 27 young campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp that was completely overwhelmed by the sudden flood surge.

The disaster has created what mental health professionals describe as a community-wide trauma response extending far beyond those directly affected. Dr. Taha, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Baylor Scott and White, has warned of widespread psychological distress throughout Central Texas as communities grapple with the scale of the tragedy.

Questions About Accountability

The revelations about leadership failures have sparked calls for accountability and systemic changes to Texas emergency management. Lt. Gov. Patrick noted that while he doesn't want to blame individuals, the record needed to be set straight about who was present during the crisis response.

Sheriff Leitha acknowledged that his office could have called him earlier, telling legislators: "Yes, ma'am, we can look at that real hard. Yes, I can look and maybe they can call me earlier".

Demands for Reform

The legislative hearing in Kerrville represents the beginning of a broader examination of Texas emergency preparedness systems. Gov. Greg Abbott has asked lawmakers to introduce legislation during the current special session to address concerns raised by the floods, including how residents are warned about rising rivers and how quickly they receive aid.

Lawmakers emphasized the urgent need for improved warning systems, better emergency communication protocols, and enhanced training for rural emergency response teams. They also called for expanded broadband service in areas with limited cell phone reception, which hampered emergency communications during the disaster.

State Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, warned that similar disasters are inevitable: "The monster will be back in one form or fashion in this state".

The Kerr County flood disaster has exposed fundamental weaknesses in Texas emergency management systems, particularly in rural areas where limited resources and personnel can leave communities vulnerable during critical moments. As lawmakers consider reforms and communities begin the long process of recovery, the testimonies of sleeping officials during the state's deadliest flood in decades will likely catalyze for comprehensive changes to prevent future tragedies. The stark admission that those charged with protecting public safety were unavailable when disaster struck has shattered confidence in local emergency response capabilities. It demands accountability measures that ensure such leadership failures never occur again during life-threatening emergencies.