Hundreds of people have gathered in Kerrville today as state lawmakers host a legislative hearing in the Hill Country town hardest hit by the July 4 floods.
Local officials told lawmakers harrowing stories of dispatchers receiving calls from people needing rescues from roofs as the floodwaters rose more than expected.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said deputies trying to reach survivors encountered swamped crossings and lost their vehicles to the rising water. He said one deputy reported hearing children screaming from the river and that when a rescue boat was en route to arrive in 10 minutes, a deputy reported, “the kids don’t have 10 minutes.”
While lawmakers avoided pointing fingers at the hearing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid into Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly for not being at the press conference Gov. Greg Abbott held immediately after the flood on July 4.
“Everyone was here that day working their ass off and you were nowhere to be found,” Patrick said.