- 1 year ago
Officials in Kerrville, Texas, hold a press briefing to detail the latest in the response to deadly flooding.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, this will be our July 7th, 10 a.m. briefing.
00:23Search and rescue operations are ongoing throughout Kirk County.
00:28We're using assets from local, state, and national first responders.
00:32Hundreds of trained first responders are working every aspect of this emergency.
00:37As of 8.30 this morning, we've recovered 75 deceased bodies here in Kirk County,
00:42including 48 adults and 27 children.
00:47Of this 48 adults and 27 children, 15 adults and 9 children are pending identification.
00:56At present, there are 10 campers from Camp Mystic unaccounted for and one counselor.
01:02We continue to offer our condolences to those affected.
01:05Reuniting the families remain our top priority here on this operation.
01:09Please note that Highway 39 of Old Ingram Loop remains closed to the public.
01:15Other than those who lived in that area would not be allowed out there.
01:19I will now turn it over to Senator DePoote.
01:23Oh, for our city manager, our city manager, Dalton Rice.
01:28Good morning, Dalton Rice, the city manager for the city of Kerrville.
01:32As everybody knows, we are working in conjunction with the city under a unified command response.
01:37And again, a lot of devastation, our hearts go out to the families and the victims.
01:43We want to continue to work together as a community.
01:46We love the media support on this to be able to communicate that message, communicate family,
01:51communicate togetherness, and we really appreciate all the support in helping us be able to do that.
01:56Search and Rescue, as the sheriff said, search and rescue operations will continue today from Hunt in North Kerr County
02:04all the way to Canyon Lake in Comal County.
02:06Now, we're only focused on the Kerr County side, but we wanted to talk about that because a linear from Hunt
02:13all the way to Comal County in a straight line distance is over 100 kilometers.
02:17This is a massive field that is happening.
02:20And again, this is unprecedented flood events.
02:24So we are still currently in the primary search phase, which is the rapid one.
02:30They are running it.
02:31We have different segments that are gridded out.
02:33Each one of those segments are taking anywhere between an hour to three hours, up to two kilometers for each segment.
02:40So what that means is they're running into a lot of technical challenges with terrain, with water, even potentially, you know, with weather, you know, in the rising fields.
02:49We've talked about this before.
02:50Volunteers stay out of the way because if we start getting weather reports and all, you know, and all the other complications that are out there,
02:58we then have to pull off of those search and rescue missions to be able to communicate to those volunteers to get off to make sure that they don't become victims themselves.
03:08Those operations involve 19 different local and state agencies, in addition to conducting primary and secondary searches.
03:15They will be conducting welfare checks on areas in North Kirk County impacted by power outages.
03:21And when we say search and rescue operations, that is boat, walking on the ground, dogs, drones, again, keep personal drones out of the air, helicopters.
03:31We do have other assets that are continuing to search as well.
03:35As of present, Cape Hub, which is the Kernel Public Utility Board, is reporting continued power outages between Hunt and Ingram along the South Fork of the Guadalupe River in Hunt.
03:46In the South Fork area, there are approximately 40 downed power lines and significant infrastructure damage.
03:52Cape Hub has brought in additional utility personnel to help with restoration, but it's not possible at this time when the power is going to be restored.
04:00There are some substations along with those power lines that we are still trying to get access to just from debris buildup or them being completely wiped out.
04:09So, again, we do not have an estimated time when those are going to be fixed.
04:13We continue to have a substantial number of requests for volunteers, as I said before, and donation opportunities.
04:19We are asking those who want to volunteer to contact the Salvation Army in Kerrville by phone at 830-465-4797 or in person at 855 Hayes Street in Kerrville.
04:37Monetary donations can be made on the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country's website at www.communityfoundation.net.
04:47They have a Kerr County Relief Fund set up on that site.
04:50And I will now turn it over to the Mayor, Joe Harrington.
04:54Thank you for being here.
05:01I need to tell my community and those families who are waiting, this will be a right week.
05:09Primary search continues, and we remain hopeful every foot, every mile, every bend of the river.
05:20Our work continues.
05:22We need to know that we have been blessed with help from the community, from the state, and the nation.
05:32We have trained experts who are helping with this effort.
05:37If you want to volunteer, it is important that you contact Kerrville Salvation Army and register.
05:46Dalton gave that number, but I'm going to give it again.
05:49830-465-4797.
05:55We need focused and coordinated volunteers, not random people just showing up and doing what they do.
06:04We need to work together.
06:07As Dolphin said, donations have been flowing in from around the world to the Community Foundation.
06:16Again, that website is www.communityfoundation.net.
06:22Please follow the City of Kerrville's Facebook page for updates.
06:26They're accurate.
06:27We take a lot of time to make sure we send out information that will be helpful, not only to residents, but those who are visiting.
06:34I've said this a hundred times, and I will say it again.
06:40We need your prayers.
06:43We need your prayers.
06:46And now, Senator Ted, please.
06:49Texas is breathing right now.
06:57The pain and the shock of what has transpired in these last few days has broken the heart of our state.
07:08As of yesterday, the confirmed death toll was 82, and those numbers are continuing to go on.
07:16The children, the little girls who were lost at camp yesterday.
07:23That's every parent's nightmare.
07:26Every mom and dad.
07:27Last week, we were picking up our daughter from camp here and out.
07:33Our girls have gone to camp here for a decade.
07:38The Hill Country is an incredible part of Texas, part of the country.
07:44The natural beauty here is incredible.
07:47The camps that have raised generations of little girls and little boys and instilled character and love and faith are extraordinary institutions.
07:58And I'll tell you the pain in our state, and it's every part of the state.
08:03We've got Texans from all over the state who were here celebrating the 4th of July.
08:07A week ago, this was a time of great celebration.
08:10You're dropping your little girl off at camp, your little boy off at camp.
08:15You're celebrating Independence Day.
08:19You know that your child is going to be swimming, canoes, horseback riding, doing archery and making lifetime friends.
08:29And then suddenly it turns to tragedy.
08:32The last several days, I've spoken to multiple parents, scared out of their mind.
08:39Do you know anything?
08:40Where is my daughter?
08:43There's still 10 girls and one counselor from Kansas that are unaccounted for.
08:50And the pain and agony of not knowing your child's whereabouts.
08:56It's the worst thing to imagine.
09:00But I want to say in the face of all of this, it is simultaneously inspiring.
09:09Every time there's a tragedy, every time there's a natural disaster in Texas, Texans come together.
09:14Texas is a big state.
09:15We have 31 million people and we have hurricanes, we have tornadoes, we have wildfires.
09:22Tragedies hit this state.
09:23Natural disasters hit this state.
09:25And without fail, 100 out of 100 times when that happens, we see Texans coming together, helping each other, engaging in acts of heroism.
09:36There have been over 850 high water rescues since this flooding began.
09:43850.
09:45You look at extraordinary stories, stories of Eagle Scouts pulling campers out of harm's way.
09:52I was just hearing a story of one counselor whose head was right at the water holding up two mattresses with campers on those mattresses.
10:01That kind of courage, that kind of selflessness.
10:06And then there are the first responders.
10:10The local first responders, I want to thank every one of the first responders at the local level, at the city level, at the county level, at the state level, at the federal level.
10:21In the first few hours of this flood, I was on the phone with Governor Abbott.
10:25I was on the phone with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
10:28I was on the phone with Nim Kidd, the head of the Texas Department of Emergency Management.
10:33And then I called President Trump.
10:36He was having dinner at the time.
10:39It was still early in what was transpiring.
10:41And I wanted him to know.
10:43I said, Mr. President, everything we're hearing right now, this appears to be bad, really bad.
10:47There may be a very significant loss of life unfolding right now in Texas.
10:52And I will tell you, the President said, Ted, anything Texas needs, the answer is yes.
10:58Whatever assets you need, whatever resources you need, yes, let us know, and we will provide everything.
11:05Within hours, we had helicopters, over a dozen helicopters in the air.
11:10National Guard, DPS, Game Wardens, Coast Guard, doing search and rescue, reaching down.
11:18We've all seen the videos of little girls being pulled up, hoisted out of harm's way.
11:23Incredible courage and heroism.
11:28Search and rescue is the first stage.
11:31But the process of coming together and rebuilding is going to take longer.
11:38And I will say to all the grieving families, to all of those who've gotten the worst news imaginable, that your little girl, she's gone.
11:47And I will say, for many of us, those are friends and neighbors who've lost children.
11:54I've got multiple kids who go to school with my girls.
11:58The mayor asked for prayers.
12:08And I want to say thank you to the millions of Texans, to the millions of Americans, to the millions of people all over the world right now who are praying, praying for Texas and praying for those parents.
12:20Going through this grief, it is going to take love, it is going to take friends and family embracing and hugging and holding them while they weep.
12:33And it's going to take the church.
12:37With every disaster, one of the things we see here in Texas is the church steps up and the church helps and the church feeds and clothes and comforts.
12:49This morning, I met with a group of chaplains who've been going through the incredibly difficult process of talking to mom and dad after mom and dad who just lost the most precious person they ever knew.
13:04And those chaplains are just trying to love them and show God's love to them.
13:09So I want to say we will come through this.
13:13To those in the midst of grief right now, that might seem hard to fathom.
13:18But Texas will come through this.
13:21And I just want to say thank you.
13:22I want to say thank you to these gentlemen here who are working.
13:26They are not sleeping.
13:27They are working every day.
13:28Thank you to the families.
13:29Thank you to the Salvation Army.
13:31Thank you to everyone who is just reaching out and saying, how can I help?
13:38We will come through this and we'll come through this together.
13:46Now we will take questions.
13:47Senator, you talked about having no kids here.
13:50Have you taken your own kids to camp?
13:52Was it ever communicated to you that there was a heat, that it was a priority to have a warning system so people have a chance to escape some of these?
14:01But listen, I think any time you're dealing with major rivers, there's a risk of flooding.
14:06And there's always been a risk of flooding, particularly on Guadalajara.
14:11I will say, in the wake of every tragedy, there are things that are predictable.
14:18One of the things that's predictable is that you see some people engaging in, I think, partisan games and trying to blame their political opponents for a natural disaster.
14:30And you see that with the hurricane, with the tornado, with the wildfire, with this flooding, where people immediately say, well, the hurricane is Donald Trump.
14:40You know, look, that I think most normal Americans know that's ridiculous.
14:45And I think this is not a time for partisan finger pointing and attacks.
14:50Now, after we come through search arresting, after we come through the process of rebuilding, there will naturally be a period of retrospection where you look back and say, OK, what exactly transpired?
15:04What was the timeline?
15:05And what could have been done differently to prevent this loss of life?
15:09And that's a natural process.
15:11I think it should not happen in a bitter and partisan sense, but it should happen in a reasonable sense of, say, what lessons can we learn?
15:20And I will give an example.
15:22You know, Houston is my hometown.
15:24You live on the Gulf Coast.
15:26We get hurricanes.
15:27That's part of living on the Gulf Coast as hurricanes hit.
15:30And I do think Texas as a whole has learned over time how to deal more effectively with hurricanes.
15:36And so you look here, we know the National Weather Service put out an emergency warning just after 1 a.m. and a second emergency warning just after 4 a.m.
15:47Now, obviously, most people at 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. are asleep.
15:51And so I think we will have a reasonable conversation about, A, are there any ways to have earlier detection?
15:58And some of that, the limits of a flash flood, they're very difficult because they can arise so quickly.
16:05But everyone would agree, in hindsight, if we could go back and do it again, we would evacuate particularly those in the most vulnerable areas, the young children in the cabins closest to the water.
16:17We would remove them and get them to higher ground if we could go back and do it again.
16:21Obviously, everyone would.
16:23The people in RVs by the river's edge.
16:27We know in disasters like this, RVs and mobile homes are particularly susceptible, whether a flood or a hurricane or a tornado, they're particularly susceptible to that.
16:37And so my hope is, in time, we will learn some lessons to implement to next time, and there will be another flood, there will be another disaster.
16:49But next time there's a flood, I hope we have in place processes to remove especially the most vulnerable from harm's way.
16:57But 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 this same wall slide.
17:09Senator, there were claims that the National Weather Service said that first flash flood warning that should have loaded the phones at 1.14 in the morning.
17:16But we have a federal public database maintained by PBS, PBS Warren, that says the first emergency alert wirelessly here in this area at Kirk County was not until after 9 a.m.
17:27That was more than four hours after the severe plane had come to this area.
17:31Did you know that, have you seen that, and what's your response, knowing the state and cuts to the NWS in recent months by the semester again?
17:38So, I don't know the source for what you're saying.
17:41All of the public reporting I've seen is that there were two alerts that went out, one just after 1 a.m., one after 4 a.m.
17:48You know, I can tell you, I talked about the partisan finger pointing.
17:53I think there have been some eager to point at the National Weather Service and say cuts there led to a lack of warning.
18:01I think that's contradictory by the facts, and if you look at the facts in particular, number one, that these warnings went out hours before the flood became a true emergency level.
18:14But number two, the National Weather Service here, New Braunfels, is where they were headquartered.
18:21They had additional manpower.
18:22In fact, they had three additional people working that night anticipating that it was going to be a very dangerous weather situation.
18:30I also think it's worth noting that the National Weather Service Union, which has been very critical of the doge cuts, has publicly said that they don't believe that the reduction in staffing had any impact whatsoever on their ability to warn of this event.
18:45And so, look, I think it is reasonable over time to engage in a retrospective and say at every level what could have been done better, because all of us would want to prevent this horrific loss of life.
18:59But I think just immediately trying to use it for either side to attack their political opponents, I think that's cynical and not the right approach, particularly at a time when we're dealing with a crisis that we're dealing with.
19:13But is this going to be a question whether there should be cuts on the National Weather Service in FEMA?
19:17I know you've been supportive of FEMA.
19:18Look, I am very supportive of FEMA.
19:20I'm very supportive of the National Weather Service.
19:22They both perform essential roles.
19:25And I think it is critical at every federal agency, particularly when you're dealing with public safety, that we make sure that critical roles are maintained.
19:33That's a longer and broader discussion.
19:35But as I said, everything from the public evidence indicates that that was not a contributing factor to what it is.
19:41Is it possible that Dalton has to talk about that in the National Weather Service alert?
19:45Because there were escalating forecasts throughout the day from the National Weather Service.
19:50What did the emergency managers of the county and other local officials do with that information, starting at 1-15 and onward, where you have the Diner River forecast at 6-30?
20:02Were emergency managers doing anything that could be the processes in place for more people on the road?
20:07So overall, we were preparing for the July 4th weekend.
20:11So we had National EMR on site, basically stood up kind of an incident command post, if you will, to prepare for that event.
20:18So most everybody was kind of up in the weather.
20:21We looked at the weather before.
20:22When you looked at the National Weather Service, excuse me, flood map, it spanned all the way from the west side of Texas with Kerr County kind of being in that upper northeast corner of it.
20:33And so everybody, including the National Weather Service, was looking at where is the rain going to hit?
20:38We know it's somewhere in here, but with rain, especially when you're dealing with rain, you've got to figure out, sometimes you don't know until it falls.
20:47So once it starts falling, then you've got to figure out, okay, how's the watershed going to do this?
20:51How's the science going to work?
20:52And when you have that north and south fork that we had talked about before, it all converged into one.
20:57We do know that a lot of the camps were looking at this just as much as everybody was.
21:03With the rainfall percentages, even the National Weather Service that I've looked at, and don't quote me on the numbers,
21:09but it was anywhere between one to seven inches.
21:12We got significantly over that.
21:14And again, when it goes into very congregated areas and how that watershed shifts into the rivers, that impacts things.
21:22And so the camps, obviously, we've heard stories where campers were getting up.
21:26They were up at 3.30 in the morning.
21:28They were trying to move to higher ground.
21:31And that's the other interesting part of the terrain is we talked to UGRA folks as well.
21:38This is the headwaters of the Guadalupe.
21:40This is the beginning.
21:41This is where everything forms when it comes into the northern south fork.
21:46And so as those things develop, it develops very rapidly, very quickly.
21:51And this rose very quickly in a very short amount of time.
21:54And so those campers that were able to do that, it worked.
21:57You know, there's been the other question.
21:59I'll just give this one out.
22:01Evacuation.
22:02Well, why don't we evacuate?
22:03Well, evacuation is a delicate balance.
22:05Because if you evacuate too late, you then risk putting buses, you know,
22:09or cars or vehicles or campers on roads into low water areas trying to get them out,
22:15which then can make it even more challenging.
22:17Because these flash floods happen very quickly as well.
22:20Was there anything?
22:21In 1987, but was it really a special earthquake earlier when it wasn't too late?
22:25Was there any discussion about that among the officials?
22:28So again, just like disasters in Texas everywhere, it's very tough to make those calls.
22:32Because what we also don't want to do is credible.
22:33You know, we don't want to make sure that we activate it at the right time.
22:35It is very difficult, very challenging, especially with this.
22:37We're looking at 100 kilometers, right?
22:38That's a big straight line distance.
22:39That's not even along the river.
22:41These areas take a lot of time to get out to you.
22:42So even when first responders were on the ground at 3.30 in the morning and we had reports,
22:48we had first responders that were getting swept away actually responding to the first areas of rainfall.
22:55That's how quick it happened.
22:56That's how quick it happened.
22:57First responders who have experience, who are swift water qualified, were driving to the,
23:02as soon as the rain started falling, were driving to these areas and one of them got swept off the road.
23:07Was there any communication between 1 and 4 a.m. from local law enforcement to the camp saying,
23:14I know you can't get buses in in an hour, but was there anyone telling the camp between 1 and 4 a.m.
23:22You need to get the girls to higher ground at the very least, even if they have to walk up there in the rain,
23:39as many of them actually ended up doing?
23:41Was there any communication from local law enforcement to anyone at that camp between 1 and 4 a.m.?
23:46That I don't know off the top of my head.
23:48What I do know, though, is there's 55,000 people in Kerr County.
23:52Kerr County is a massive, massive area.
23:55From here to those camps is 45 minutes on a good day.
23:58And so, you know, obviously one of the big challenges that we have, even when you have cell service,
24:03a lot of those areas don't even have cell service.
24:05Radio communications towers, you know, radio towers within the Hill Country becomes very challenging.
24:10So there's a lot of areas, especially when weather comes in, where cellular towers are down or you already have bad service.
24:17So there's a lot of factors that play and a lot of variables in there on communication that, again,
24:23I think as we work through this process, you know, everybody has a lot of questions regarding what are the next steps and what's next.
24:30And I think all of these things, these are all great questions.
24:32And as we continue search and rescue and as we continue to move to the next step,
24:36we definitely want to dive in and look at all those things from cell service tower to, you know, to radio communications,
24:43you know, emergency alerting, any of those things, I think we all really need to take a look, you know, a look at and review.
24:48And we're looking forward to doing that once we can get the search investment stuff.
24:51In regards to the total number of missing, before I say anything else, I just want to say thank you to you, all the first responders, everyone involved.
24:59We've been praying.
25:00The community's been praying.
25:01The media's been praying.
25:02Thank you guys for doing that.
25:03I've got two questions.
25:04One for you, I'm trying to get an accurate count on number missing.
25:09I know you can't, I know we don't know the, we don't know what we don't know.
25:13But do we know a rough idea on total estimates that are still missing overall throughout the county?
25:19And then one of the follow-up, this may be for Senator Cruz, a lot of speculations being made about this being somehow man-involved with the weather modification,
25:29with some of the rain maker technology working with farmland.
25:33Do you think any of that, is there going to be any investigations into that?
25:36Do you communicate anything on that?
25:38Let me answer your first question, I'll definitely turn that second off.
25:41So, on the first question, you know, with missing persons.
25:45So obviously we have the knowns, the can't miss the kids, which is the numbers coming down, as the sheriff has stated.
25:50And then we have the unknowns.
25:51We don't know what we don't know.
25:53We are taking, we actually have a five hotline line.
25:57It fluctuates between three and five, but we're working on it.
26:00We get calls 24 hours, seven days a week.
26:02We haven't hit the weeks yet, but we're still, you know, taking in calls.
26:05We are collecting all that information.
26:07So we don't have a solid number that we're willing to talk about right now.
26:10We do know that it is a lot, because we also are getting a lot of fake calls.
26:14You know, you're looking, this is a worldwide discussion, and we're dealing with scammers.
26:20Victims' families are being reached out to saying that they have their kids paying me money.
26:25It's heartbreaking, it's absolutely heartbreaking.
26:28We're dealing with, you know, with mental health issues, where people are calling and saying they have visions.
26:32You know, all of these things we're dealing with on a day-to-day basis, and we're having to vet this information, and it becomes very taxing on our people.
26:40Again, this is an extremely heartbreaking, if not the worst, you know, one of the worst disasters in this region in a very, very long time, even beyond 1987.
26:50And so, so would best estimate, like dozens or hundreds, or just to, just to give people an idea?
26:57A lot.
26:58Okay.
26:59So follow-up, follow-up, yeah, follow-up.
27:03Yeah.
27:04And not to get into the weeds on, you know, people are asking lots of questions, and where should we start the investigation?
27:09To the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to anything like weather modification.
27:15And, look, the internet can be a strange place.
27:18People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories.
27:21What I know is the reality is that, that a whole lot of Texans are, are grieving right now.
27:27Um, I will tell you, I was visiting with, with one parent who was talking about online, being harassed online because their information was public that they had a little girl who was missing and mystic.
27:41And, and look, there are a lot of people who were messed up and, and, and, and my call for everyone, there's a time to have political fights.
27:51There's a time to disagree.
27:52This is not that time.
27:54This is a time just to, to, to, to reach out, support each other, go, go volunteer at the Salvation Army.
28:02Give them money.
28:03Give them money.
28:04Go, go volunteer at your church.
28:05Go.
28:06You know what, what I did when this happened?
28:08Just go hug your kids.
28:09Because I got to tell you, I hugged, hugged my girls with tears in my eyes because every one of us who was a parent there, but for the grace of God, go out.
28:18And, and nothing will fill the void in these moms and dads hearts, but they'll make it through it.
28:27And every one of us, we have an obligation to, to, to come through and, and, and help them make it through it.
28:34And look, Texas will come through.
28:36And let me say, Kirk County, the Hill Country is, is incredible.
28:39It is beautiful.
28:40And, and these summer camps, Camp Mystic is an incredible Texas institution.
28:45For a century, it has made a profound difference helping young girls become strong women in, in Texas and across the country.
28:55And, and, and so for me, at least I'm praying for these camps.
28:58I'm praying for all the campers, everyone implicated, everyone impacted.
29:02And, and, and, and I, I hope we come together and stand as one.
29:09Thank you, everybody.
Comments