As the floods hit, Kerrville officials’ messages show lack of information about what was coming” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
The day before the Guadalupe River rose 34 feet in the small Hill Country city of Kerrville and swamped areas along the river banks, Mayor Joe Herring Jr. messaged the city manager with anticipation.
“Big day tomorrow at LHP,” Herring wrote, likely referring to Louise Hays Park, where a Fourth of July festival was planned with bands and fireworks.
“Yes it is!” City Manager Dalton Rice replied. “And it seems we got some rain too!”
A whole lot more rain was coming.
A review of emails and text messages sent to and between Kerrville city officials offers new details of what happened over the next 24 hours, showing how a city manager notified colleagues and council members that the river was rising. Some seemed to struggle to grasp the magnitude of the flash flooding that killed young girls sleeping in summer camp cabins upriver and sent a wall of water pushing along the Guadalupe River toward them.
As state lawmakers prepare to hold a hearing in Kerrville on Thursday morning about the floods, important questions remain about the local and state response to the horrific storm that ravaged small communities along the Guadalupe and left more than 100 pe…