KERR COUNTY, Texas – As devastating floodwaters swept through the Hill Country in the early hours of July 4, a firefighter requested a mass emergency alert to warn residents.
However, Kerr County officials took nearly six hours to send the alert, according to audio from a dispatcher obtained by a KSAT source familiar with the emergency notification for residents near Hunt.
In a call to dispatch, timestamped at 4:22 a.m., a firefighter with the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department requested a CodeRED Alert.
“The Guadalupe Schumacher sign is underwater on State Highway 39. 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.
>> READ: Timeline: When the warnings began for Kerr County before catastrophic flooding
CodeRED is a mass notification system used by some cities and counties to send emergency alerts to residents’ phones, provided they have signed up in advance.
“Stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor,” a Kerr County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) dispatcher replied to the request.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly told reporters on July 4 that no one had anticipated the magnitude of the flooding and that the county had no emergency alert system in place.
Yet, the audio and messages sent later with CodeRED indicate a system was functional.
Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. told the Texas Tribune that he received an alert on his phone from the CodeRED system at 6 a.m. on July 4.
Herring said that it was the only weather alert he received that morning.
Others have shared screenshots with KSAT showing the alert was received by their phone around 5:30 a.m.
The request came in at 4:22 a.m. on Friday, July 4. However, a source told KSAT that neither the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office nor the Kerrville Police Department sent a CodeRED Alert to some residents until 10:04 a.m. on July 4.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha declined to provide a clear answer when asked about the alert delay on Tuesday.
“It’s not that easy, and you just push a button. OK? There’s a lot more to that, and we’ve told you several times,” Leitha said.
Leitha and other county officials have repeatedly stated that they are not ready to discuss specific aspects of the response, as their current focus remains on search and rescue operations.
During a Wednesday morning news conference, Leitha described it as an “after-action.”
“As I said earlier, with every significant event, you know ... every emergency ... there’s gonna be an after-action,” Leitha said. “Please, y’all, listen to those words: after-action ... Those questions are gonna be answered.”
“I believe those questions need to be answered to the family of the missed loved ones, to the public, you know, to the people that put me in this office...,” the Kerr County sheriff continued.
WATCH BELOW: Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha explains the delay in CodeRED during a Wednesday morning news conference.
More recent related coverage of the Hill Country floods: