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.
State Rep. Ann Johnson, a Democrat from Houston, asked William Thomas with Kerr County Emergency Management how the county warned Camp Mystic of the rising Guadalupe River. Twenty seven campers and staffers of the all-girls camp died in the flooding, which tore through the area in the early morning hours of July 4.
"It is my understanding that there were little girls with water around their feet at 2 a.m. that were told, 'Stay in your cabin.' And those little girls did what they were told. What was the protocol to warn people when that scenario comes up?” she asked Thomas after his testimony.
Thomas told Johnson the camp should have notified the sheriff's office of flooding. But Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said he did not receive any such notification from Camp Mystic.