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.
Mike Richards arrived at the hearing 30 minutes early to make sure he was able to testify. He told The Texas Newsroom that after the flood he found 10 bodies on land he owns in Center Point, an unincorporated area in Kerr County.
"I didn't get no help from the state or the government,” he said. “FEMA's a joke and it needs to be abolished. The state is broken.”
A former police officer, Richards said he’s still receiving calls from family members and volunteers who are in tears over the devastation.
Local officials told lawmakers harrowing stories of dispatchers receiving calls from people needing rescues from roofs as the floodwaters rose more than expected.