Texas floods latest updates: Over 120 dead as Kerr County ‘repeatedly denied funding’ for emergency warning system

Kerr County officials were repeatedly denied state funding for an emergency flood warning system, a new report states.

County officials alerted the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a 220-page “hazard mitigation” report in October that it was “likely” that deadly flooding would occur “in the next year,” according to The New York Times.

Officials outlined a possible solution: a flood warning system that could alert residents to rapidly rising waters.

The cost of such a system was estimated at less than $1 million, and they noted that FEMA had grant programs that could pay for it.

Between 2017 and 2024, the newspaper identified at least three instances where Kerr County officials sought funding for a flood warning system but were denied by the state.

President Donald Trump will travel to Texas on Friday for a firsthand look at the devastation caused by the catastrophic floods.

The president is expected to do an aerial tour of some of the hard-hit areas.

The White House also says he’ll visit the state emergency operations centre to meet with first responders and relatives of flood victims.

Trump will also get a briefing from officials. Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Senator John Cornyn and Senator Ted Cruz are joining the visit, with the GOP senators expected to fly to their state with Trump aboard Air Force One.

“Nobody ever saw a thing like this coming,” Trump told NBC News on Thursday, adding, “This is a once-in-every-200-year deal.” He’s also suggested he’d have been ready to visit Texas within hours but didn’t want to burden authorities still searching for the more than 170 people who are still missing.

Governor Greg Abbott has asked for more communities to be added to the Major Disaster Declaration President Donald Trump approved last Sunday after flash floods devastated Central Texas two days prior.

The declaration made federal funding available to individuals in hard-hit Kerr County and state and eligible local governments.

“In addition to Kerrville, many communities across Texas were hit with deadly flooding. I have added San Saba, Burnet, Williamson, Travis and Tom Green counties to President Trump’s Disaster Declaration,” Abbott wrote on X Thursday night.

John David Trolinger, former IT director for Kerr County, said a flood alert would have been “ineffective” for hard-hit Hunt even if it was sent out earlier.

Trolinger was listening to dispatch calls Friday morning when floodwaters started hitting Central Texas.

Audio of these calls from a local firefighter was obtained by CNN and played on air Thursday.

“Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents asking them to find higher ground or stay home?” the firefighter asked.

That call was made at 4:22 a.m. local time, according to KSAT, which also obtained dispatch recordings. Trolinger started hearing calls signaling something was wrong at 3:27 a.m. local time, according to CNN’s Erin Burnett, who had Trolinger on her show Thursday night.

When Burnett asked Trolinger, who had helped install the CodeRED emergency alert system, if things could have played out differently, he said, “ It’s too late for Hunt. The water’s come up and the wall of water’s heading down to Ingram.”

“ A quick action could have helped people down river. But at 3:30, once it hit 4:30, it was just too late. The CodeRED would’ve been ineffective in my opinion.”

The first CodeRED alerts were sent out at 5:34 a.m. local time, per KSAT.

Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday Texas flags will be lowered to half-staff “in heartfelt remembrance of those whose lives were tragically lost in the recent floods.”

While search and rescue efforts are still underway, 121 people have died so far and 173 are missing after flash flooding on July 4 devastated Central Texas.

The flags will be at half-staff until Monday, July 14.

Governor Greg Abbott thanked Tennessee for helping with search and rescue efforts by sending K-9 teams to Central Texas following catastrophic floods on July 4.

It’s been six days since flash floods along the Guadalupe River devastated Central Texas.

At least 121 people were killed in the floods, and 173 are still missing. Search and rescue efforts continued Thursday, but hopes of finding survivors have faded. No survivors have been found since Friday.

Here are some pictures from Thursday’s search and rescue efforts: