(NewsNation) — A former Kerry County sheriff pushed for more updated warning systems prior to the devastating floods in central Texas, which NewsNation has learned were outdated.
For years, those warnings were primarily word-of-mouth systems, meaning people who were up the river would often call or send texts to people down the river about flash floods.
That method is not always effective in situations where flash flooding occurs late at night when others are sleeping. A flash flood warning for Kerr County was issued at 1 a.m. on Friday.
The Guadalupe River in western Kerr County had reached 29 feet, the second-highest level on record. It surpassed flooding levels set in 1987, when floods killed 10 teenagers and injured 33 others near Comfort, Texas and reached 26 feet.
Despite efforts from officials, very little progress has been made in updating weather warning systems. In 2016, then-Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer proposed upgrading outdoor sirens that could ring sounds depending on the type and level of threat. The county rejected the proposal due to budget concerns.
In 2018, Kerr County applied for a $1 million grant to install a flood warning system, but was denied. According to NewsNation affiliate KXAN, Kerrville did not have outdoor weather alarms that might have given residents more warning of floods.
The county does have working sirens, but not in Kerrville or near Camp Mystic. Other nearby counties, like Kendall and Comal, have sirens that worked this past weekend. The decision to implement sirens is made at the local level.
Critics have pointed out that sirens can be costly and expensive to repair, costing between $10,000 and $50,000 for each one.
“There will be another flood, there will be another disaster, but next time there is a flood, I hope we have in place processes to remove, especially the most vulnerable, from harm’s way,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said. “I think that’s going to be a process that will take a careful examination of what happened and how can we implement processes better in the future to prevent the loss of life.”
The floods in central Texas have left 91 people dead.