State legislators will query Kerr County officers on July 4 flood response in a listening to on Thursday.
KERRVILLE, Texas — State legislators are set to publicly query native officers for the primary time since at the least 137 folks died in lethal July 4 floodwaters in Kerr County, with a listening to scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Thursday that would lastly present solutions concerning the emergency response.
The joint legislative committee listening to represents the primary alternative for public testimony from flood victims and native officers, together with Kerr County Emergency Operations Supervisor Dub Thomas, for the reason that devastating floods that claimed greater than 100 lives.
This listening to differs considerably from final week’s joint assembly with state legislators in Austin, the place there was no native illustration. Prime officers selected to not attend that session as a result of they did not need to pull assets away from the continuing restoration mission in Kerr County.
The state’s joint committee is working to find out precisely what occurred throughout the response to the July 4 floods, with explicit concentrate on how ready officers have been for the flooding and their emergency response protocols.
Key questions have emerged concerning the county’s warning programs. Kerrville didn’t have an out of doors siren system to warn folks alongside the river concerning the approaching hazard. Moreover, there are questions on whether or not the county’s Code Crimson alert system was activated early sufficient to warn residents concerning the incoming wall of water.
Since July 4, officers have facet stepped and deflected answering questions so this actually may very well be an opportunity to study extra about what occurred and when.
The listening to is predicted to supply the primary complete public examination of the emergency response that has confronted scrutiny within the aftermath of one of many deadliest flooding occasions in latest Texas historical past.
KHOU 11 will present stay protection of the listening to from Kerr County as legislators search solutions concerning the response that has left households and survivors demanding accountability.
