KERRVILLE, Texas – Kerrville emergency management coordinator Jerremy Hughes put in retirement paperwork just days before the deadly and catastrophic Fourth of July flood, according to the city.
Kerrville public information officer Stuart Cunyus told KSAT on Tuesday that Hughes gave his notice of retirement to Kerrville Fire Chief Eric Maloney on July 1 after 31 years of service. He submitted the letter to City Hall on July 2, Cunyus said.
“It has been an honor not only to serve with you as my Chief, but also as a friend who came up through the department together,” Hughes said in his letter to Maloney. “I hope four weeks is not too bad of a blind side, but due to needing to have a new career, I was limited to the amount I could offer. It has been a blast, and I know there’s more still to do, but I feel I’m leaving the department better than I found it.”
Hughes went on to say he will be a Kerrville firefighter “before all else.”
Records obtained by KSAT Investigates show that Hughes received emails showing that the city’s fire department waited until 8:55 a.m. on July 4 to tell all off-duty personnel to report to their respective stations.
Hughes and Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice received a long list of media interview requests in the immediate aftermath of the floods, along with messages from people asking if they could help with search efforts or provide equipment.
The city said Hughes left his position on July 24 — a week before Kerr County and Kerrville officials testified in front of the joint Texas House and Senate committee on flood response and preparedness.
During the hearing on July 31, the county’s top leaders admitted to being out of town or asleep during the initial hours of the crisis. At least 108 people were killed in Kerr County alone.
>> Flood timeline: Alerts, emergency response and pivotal moments in July 4 tragedy in the Hill Country
Despite preparing for retirement, testimony from July 31 indicated that Hughes was on duty that morning.
William “Dub” Thomas, Kerr County’s emergency management coordinator, told lawmakers that his wife woke him up after receiving a call from Hughes, “requesting that I mobilize.”
Thomas said he was sick the day before the flooding occurred and missed two calls from Texas Emergency Management officials. He woke up around 5:30 a.m. July 4, he said.
“By approximately 6 a.m., I was actively coordinating our county’s response in close contact with the sheriff, the emergency operations center and Mr. Hughes, working together under rapidly changing and difficult conditions,” Thomas said.
Later in the hearing, when asked who and where Hughes was, Rice said Hughes submitted his paperwork to retire on July 2.
Rice said Hughes’ position was “a training battalion chief with a separate function of emergency management coordinator.”
Texas State Rep. Drew Darby responded, “I think one of the problems that this process is showing is we have a lot of folks who are not, who have titles, but when the time came to act, they did not do so in a timely fashion.”
Kerr County officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, which was equivalent to months’ worth of rain for the area.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha also acknowledged being asleep when the crisis started.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who holds a position in Texas that functions as the county’s chief executive officer, testified that he was out of town at Lake Travis, located near Austin, the morning of the flood.
KSAT has requested the notice of Hughes’ retirement.
His LinkedIn profile states he’s the former division chief of training and emergency management. He previously served as a firefighter, firefighter-paramedic and instructor with Kerrville Fire/EMS.
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