KERRVILLE, TEXAS — Four days after catastrophic floods in Central Texas left over 100 people dead and nearly 200 missing, local and federal officials continue to face questions about how details of the emergency response went missed.
Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed at least 161 people are known to be missing but the later went up later in the day to over 170.
“Know this: We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” Abbott said. “Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list.”
Abbott said President Donald Trump’s “immediate granting of the major master declaration” led to the speeding up of recovery efforts.
“It immediately opened not only access to more funding, but also access to more resources to be able to more quickly, more effectively respond to this storm. That includes debris removal, which has already begun,” Abbott said.
“I’ve been dealing with events like this for 10 years; never have I seen someone respond as quickly and as effectively as what Secretary Noem did,” he added.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a news conference on Tuesday that it will take time to figure out what went wrong.
“We’re in the process of trying to put a timeline — that’s going to take a little bit of time,” Leitha said.
Leitha, appearing with Kerrville’s mayor and law enforcement officials, said he was notified about the events between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. — hours after the flash flood warnings were issued.
Abbott, reiterated that the focus remained on the search and rescue effort and not placing blame.
“Every football team makes mistakes. The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who is to blame,” Abbott said, while winning teams “talk about solutions.”
“You’d have to ask them,” he responded when asked about what local officials knew of the warning alerts.
Just two days before devastating floods, the Texas Department of State Health Services gave the okay for the camp’s emergency plans.
