Kerr County Delayed Sending Emergency Alert by 90 Minutes, Dispatch Audio Reveals

Flood waters left debris including vehicles and equipment scattered in Louise Hays Park on July 5, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas.

At 4:22 a.m. on Friday, as Texas' Hill Country began to flood, a firefighter in Ingram – just upstream from Kerrville – asked the Kerr County Sheriff's Office to alert nearby residents, according to audio obtained by ABC affiliate KSAT. But Kerr County officials took nearly six hours to heed this call.

The first alert didn't come through Kerr County's CodeRED system until 90 minutes later. Some messages didn't arrive until after 10 a.m. By then, hundreds of people had been swept away by the floodwaters.

Kerr County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Records show Kerr County's CodeRED Emergency Notification System, which alerts subscribers to emergencies through pre-recorded phone messages, has been in place for at least a decade.

When CodeRED was first introduced by Kerr County and the City of Kerrville in 2014, a government press release claimed it could \"notify the entire City / County about emergency situations in a matter of minutes.\"

In 2021, Kerr County incorporated FEMA's Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS) into CodeRED, so that messages could reach tourists and others not in the local database. Despite doubts, Kerr County began using IPAWS alongside its CodeRED system in 2021.

When the area flooded on Friday, Ingram City Council Member Ray Howard told ABC News he got three flash flood alerts from the National Weather Service, but none from Kerr County authorities.

Records show that the topic of a flood warning system for Kerr County came up in at least 20 different county commissioners' meetings since it was first introduced in 2016.

Despite concerns over spending, some officials believe an early alert system is necessary for the future to provide peace of mind to residents.

According to the source: ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos.