Kerr County officials give timeline of emergency response to flooding

Kerr County officials testified about the emergency response during the July 4 flash flood that killed 108 people across the county from state lawmakers during a legislative hearing in Kerrville on Thursday with at least 200 people in attendance.

During the testimony, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha gave lawmakers an early timeline of emergency response to the flooding.

In the first few hours of the flooding, he said one two-man dispatching team handled more than 600 calls.

Leitha reported that another dispatcher remained on the phone with two children in a cabin filling with water. Information about where the cabin was located was not provided.

“There was no time for formal orders, only action,” Leitha said.

The timeline Leitha provided was described as a “snapshot” and concentrates on the operations from the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office.

MORNING OF JULY 4

1:14 a.m.: The National Weather Service issues flash flood warning to Kerr County released on CodeRED. “1-2 inches of rain has fallen. Anticipating 1-2 inches per hour. An additional 2-3 inches possible.”

1:14-3:30 a.m.: Dispatch communications center had seven phone calls received and processed 22 radio transmissions.

2:08 a.m.: Caller calls in inquiring about road conditions and if they’re clear.

2:53 a.m.: Call from River Inn Resort in West Kerr County. Water is coming over the river bank. Advise the inn visitor of flooding, no evacuation.

3:27 a.m.: Mountain Home Volunteer Fire Department reports that Schumacher Crossing in West Kerr County is not passable.

3:30 a.m.: Dispatch receives a call from a family on a roof requesting air evacuation.

3:35 a.m.: Dispatch tones out Hunt Volunteer Fire Department for swiftwater rescue.

3:31-4:22 a.m.: Dispatch receives 50 phone calls for service and rescue and processes 114 radio transmissions.

3:39 a.m.: Mountain Home VFD asks Kerr County Sheriff’s Office to alert Ingram VFD for evacuation of River RV Park.

3:41 a.m.: KCSO deputy confirms that Schumacher Crossing is not passable.

3:43 a.m.: KCSO tones out Kerr County Special Operations for swiftwater rescue.

3:46 a.m.: Dispatch receives a call from a caller with two young children and water overtaking the home.

3:50 a.m.: Calls from Casa Bonita in West Kerr County advise that the community is flooding. Dispatch advises callers to seek higher ground.

3:52 a.m.: Ingram VFD goes into service.

3:57 a.m.: Calls from Camp Mystic advise that individuals are stranded on a hill and seeking evacuation.

4:05 a.m.: Multiple reports of Casa Bonita cabins flooding.

4:08 a.m.: KCSO tones out Mountain Home VFD of swiftwater rescue at Casa Bonita.

4:11 a.m.: A KCSO sergeant is landlocked, must abandon his cruiser and begins evacuating local residents.

4:15 a.m.: KCSO corporal arrives at Texas 39 and barricades the highway.

4:22-5:01 a.m.: Dispatch workload rises to 19 calls of service and rescue and 168 radio transmissions.

4:22 a.m.: Hunt Volunteer Fire Department seeks CodeRED alert, KCSO dispatch acknowledges.

4:23 a.m.: KCSO sergeant approves CodeRED alert.

4:24 a.m.: KCSO deputy reports that he hears kids screaming in the river.

4:28 a.m.: Dispatch calls TxDOT for barricades.

4:30 a.m.: TxDOT calls dispatch asking for information on what is happening in reference to the flooding.

4:32 a.m.: NWS calls KCSO asking if the roads are closed and if it’s flooding.

4:35 a.m.: KCSO alerts Ingram VFD for children trapped in water below Howdy’s Bar and Chill.

4:38 a.m.: KCSO deputy dispatched to Rowland Lane to assist with children trapped in the water.

4:42 a.m.: KCSO corporal advises people to get on the roofs in Hunt, dispatchers advise callers to seek higher ground.

4:34 a.m.: KCSO corporal seeks helicopter evacuations for Hunt.

4:46 a.m.: ETA for swiftwater rescue boat is 10 minutes. KCSO deputy advises that, “These kids don’t have 10 minutes.”

4:47 a.m.: KCSO dispatcher takes call from Camp La Junta seeking a water rescue after a building collapsed.

5:01 a.m.: KCSO issues CODEred alert.

LOCAL AND STATE OFFICIALS WEIGH IN

“From there on, we just continue to be busy, but that’s kind of the bulk of the events between that time,” Leitha said. “What we’ve done in about 28 days, it usually would take about six months, and we have a lot of data to look into — recordings, radio transactions, but we’ve done the best we can to get what we can.”

William “Dub” Thomas IV, Kerr County’s emergency management coordinator, told lawmakers on Thursday that he was sick the day before the flooding occurred and missed two calls with Texas Emergency Management officials.

Both Thomas and Leitha acknowledged being asleep as a crisis was unfolding in the county.

Leitha said that he was not alerted to the flooding until he was awakened at about 4:20 a.m.

Thomas said on the morning of July 4, he was first awakened by his wife around 5:30 a.m., about two hours after emergency rescue operations were underway, and quickly drove to the sheriff’s office.

“By approximately 6 a.m., I was coordinating our county’s response in close contact with the sheriff, the emergency operation center and Mr. Hughes, working together under rapidly changing and difficult conditions,” Thomas said.

However, by that time, summer camps along the overflowing Guadalupe River were already underwater, according to other county officials.

On the day of the flood, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said he was at a vacation home in Lake Travis and didn’t wake up until approximately 5 a.m., after getting calls and texts from law enforcement officials.

“One of the problems that this process is showing is we have a lot of folks who have titles but when the time came to act, they did not do so in a timely fashion,” Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, said during the hearing.

This article was originally published in the Aug. 2, 2025 edition of the Kerrville Daily Times.