Kerrville mayor Joe Herring Jr. tearfully disclosed Monday that local officials “didn’t even have a warning” ahead of the catastrophic floods that killed over 100 people in central Texas.
“I think everyone in Kerrville, everyone in Kerr County, wishes we had some way to warn those people,” Herring told CNN’s Pamela Brown in an interview Monday through tears. “I’ve lost two friends. We loved them. And they’re gone. They’re gone.”
Flooding struck central Texas on July 4 after heavy downpour caused the Guadalupe River to rise around 26 feet within just 45 minutes. Kerr County was notably hit the hardest by the historic flooding, and tragically holds the highest number of fatalities with 84 being confirmed dead as of Monday evening, per CNN.
The total death toll across six counties has surged to at least 104 as of Monday evening, per The Associated Press.
“Everyone here, if we could have warned them, we would have done so. We didn’t even have a warning, we did not know,” Herring continued. “We did not know there was no—when I checked it about 8 o’clock that night, there’s a chance of rain, but I did not see a flood warning.”
“I did not receive a flood notification. I did not know,” the mayor added.
Texas Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd similarly bemoaned inaccurate weather forecasts in a Friday press conference, saying that “the original forecast that we received Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3-6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4-8 inches in the Hill Country.”
“The amount of rain that fell at this specific location was never in any of those forecasts,” he continued.
In a Saturday statement to the Daily Beast, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service, which was hit by employee cuts earlier this year, said: “The National Weather Service is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County. On July 3, the NWS office in Austin/San Antonio, Texas, conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in the morning and issued a Flood Watch in the early afternoon.”
“Flash Flood Warnings were also issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred,” they continued.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt further countered claims that DOGE cuts at the National Weather Service hindered its response to the floods Monday, describing the natural disaster as an “act of God.”
“It’s not the administration’s fault that the flood hit when it did,” Leavitt said. “But there were early and consistent warnings, and again, the National Weather Service did its job.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the National Weather Service for additional comment.
Kerr County was notably also the site of Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp which is currently grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday that 10 girls and one counselor are still unaccounted for.
In a press conference Monday, Herring warned that residents still face a “rough week” ahead. “We need your prayers,” he added.
