“Rest Assured, No One Knew This Kind Of Flood Was Coming.”

NEW: Kerrville didn't have weather sirens used by other cities; Kerr County had asked for $ for new flood warning system since 2018; online warnings may not have been seen b/c Camp Mystic banned cell phones/smart watches/iPads. My latest with @hueyjayd: https://t.co/sZOvFf6YlY

— Matt Grant (@MattGrantKXAN) July 6, 2025

“We didn’t know this flood was coming,” Kelly told reporters. “Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming. We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what’s happened here. None whatsoever.”

That’s the Kerr County Judge; the highest county office, but no, not a judge of a court of law. And no, he’s not at all ready to respond to this disaster.

Kerr County doesn’t have a warning system for floods or other natural disasters. They do have Facebook.

While the National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings and the city of Kerrville’s Facebook paged warned to “move to higher ground immediately,” the young campers at Camp Mystic likely wouldn’t have seen that since cell phones, smart watches, iPads and anything with Wi-Fi capability were considered “unacceptable electronic devices” to bring and “not allowed,” according to a recent list of instructions sent to parents.

Whether that extends to the camp staff is one question. How any one was supposed to get a flood warning at 4 in the morning is a separate question. Except someone in charge at the camp should have had a weather radio, one that reports NOAA weather alerts. A Facebook page doesn’t, so far as I know, alert your phone.

What else didn’t happen?

This past legislative session, lawmakers filed a bill that would have created a council to operate a grant program assisting local governments with acquiring emergency communications equipment. One of its tasks, if the bill had passed, would have been to develop a statewide strategic plan that included “the use of outdoor warning sirens.” The council would have also been asked to “develop and implement, as advisable, emergency alert systems and incorporate as necessary communication technologies into the emergency communications network of this state.”

I guess we didn’t need that.  Probably for the same reason Kerr County doesn’t have a warning system.

In an interview with the New York Times, Kelly said one reason Kerr County doesn’t have a flood warning system is due to the cost.

“Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Kelly is quoted as saying.

Asked if residents might reconsider now, he responded: “I don’t know.”

One does wonder: where does the responsibility for this tragedy finally land?