Texas flooding live updates: 95 dead in Kerr County, at least 120 dead in the state
Search and rescue operations are ongoing.
At least 120 people are dead from the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country.
Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 95 deaths, including 36 children. President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration for the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground there.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing.
120 dead in Texas
The statewide death toll has climbed to 120, with 172 people still considered missing, officials said.
Abbott announces next legislative session will discuss improving early warning systems
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday released the planned agenda for an upcoming special legislative session.
Four of the 18 agenda items were related to devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country.
The flood-related agenda items included legislation to improve flood warning systems, flood emergency communications, relief funding for hill country floods and natural disaster preparation & recovery.
“We delivered on historic legislation in the 89th Regular Legislative Session that will benefit Texans for generations to come,” said Abbott. “There is more work to be done, particularly in the aftermath of the devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country. We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future.”
Kickoff meeting for Kerr County warning system project was planned for mid-July
A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract last month for a flood warning system that would’ve been used to help with emergency response, local government officials said in response to a request by ABC News.
“An initial kickoff meeting was scheduled for mid-July,” an unidentified spokesperson for the area’s Joint Information Center wrote.
A review of minutes of local government meetings shows that some county commissioners, sheriffs and other leaders have urged improved flood warning systems in the area for decades.
During a meeting on April 17, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to select a company to develop a flood warning system in Kerr County.
The contract was for “a centralized dashboard to support local flood monitoring and emergency response,” which would allow emergency managers to view real-time streamflow and rainfall data all on one platform, according to local officials.
The system would not issue public alerts, but would serve as “a decision-support resource intended to complement existing infrastructure,” officials said.
The spokesperson for the Joint Information Center told ABC News, “In light of recent events the timeline [of the new system] will be reevaluated.”
-ABC News’ Jared Kofsky
