Local leaders in Central Texas will face more tough questions Thursday as state lawmakers – and survivors – press again for information about the responses to July 4 flash flooding that killed at least 136 people.
The hearing, at 9:30 a.m. local time, in hard-hit Kerrville follows a 12-hour special hearing last week that saw legislators scrutinize the state’s safety preparations – and split over focusing on whether more should have been done before the storm or how efficiently life-saving efforts unfolded.
Among those set to testify Thursday is an emergency response official who a colleague has said likely was asleep in the critical hours before the flood, when four months’ worth of rain fell and forced the Guadalupe River to rise over 20 feet, sweeping homes, cars, campers and cabins downstream.
Three people are still missing as the summer’s tragic surge of deadly flash floods across the United States underscores the escalating volatility of the warming planet.
Texas’ Select Committees on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding are scheduled to hear Thursday from Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. and City Manager Dalton Rice; and Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, Sheriff Larry Leitha and Emergency Management Coordinator W.B. “Dub” Thomas.
Thomas was likely asleep in the critical morning hours of the deadly flood, Leitha has told CNN.
“I’m sure he was at home asleep at that time,” said the sheriff, who acknowledged he also then was sleeping. Thomas, also a deputy sheriff, has not responded to CNN’s repeated requests for comment and declined other such opportunities since the storm.
Lawmakers are also set to hear Thursday from leaders of other affected counties and cities, as well as meteorologists, flooding experts and leaders of two mental health resource centers, followed by public testimony, according to the meeting agenda.
Last week’s hearing included testimony from officials in charge of managing the rivers of the region’s “Flash Flood Alley,” as well as the head of the state’s Division of Emergency Management and members of the state’s police force, the Department of Public Safety.
CNN’s Matthew J. Friedman and Rachel Clarke contributed to this reporting.
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