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I was hesitant to even comment on this, but I do have an opinion and some familiarity with this region and it’s flooding. I’m Texan and lived in the hill countr

I was hesitant to even comment on this, but I do have an opinion and some familiarity with this region and it’s flooding. I’m Texan and lived in the hill country for a handful of years. I once got trapped on a narrow ranch road at night and my vehicle was pushed into the ditch. I got stuck between two flooded low points then it rose even more, it wasn’t even raining when I embarked on my journey and the water only rose about 12”-18”, not even high enough to come into my stock height Chevy Silverado, but it was insane forceful. I was outside my vehicle and couldn’t stand upright once it was about 6”. I was a bit scared but it was obviously nothing compared to this. Anyways, I unfortunately believe most of the deceased likely perished within minutes of being swept away. I don’t know how any response time could beat that especially given the terrain and conditions at the time. I think what is going to come of this will be an alert system similar to tornado sirens we have up in Dallas. If people could have been woken up and moved to higher ground even with just 10 minutes notice, the death stats would be significantly lower. If I had property anywhere near this (there are other similar rivers in the region), I’d be installing something on my property right now.

kubb 1y ago
What’s your opinion about letting developers build on floodplains?
- conductr 1y ago
  I honestly think it’s a bit of a loaded question and I’m not going to opine here, my personal opinion doesn’t matter anyway
komali2 1y ago
Texan as well here. > I think what is going to come of this will be an alert system similar to tornado sirens we have up in Dallas. I don't share your optimism. Where will the budget for this come from? We both know our state, and how it votes. https://apnews.com/article/texas-floods-camp-warning-system-not-funded-0845df62390b9623331ba4a030c5fc7d https://apnews.com/article/texas-floods-camp-warning-system-... We'll get the 1 million now of course, for this region, for this type of disaster, for now. In 8 years if another million is needed to upkeep the system, I don't think we'll get the funding again, unless some more kids died. Actually... maybe we won't even get the 1 million now. How many kids died at Uvalde, for example? My mom's a Texan teacher. The post Uvalde response: her principal asked her how she'd feel about carrying a handgun in school. My experience is if an issue is politicized, then Texas will make the wrong choice, every time. I have no hope for my state anymore. If you can maintain optimism, I admire you and hope you stick around, we'll need more people like you.
- tzs 1y ago
  Here's an interesting article from a few days ago on Kerr county's efforts in recent years to address this [1]. They couldn't come up with the money on their own because apparently a lot of the residents are really into wanting to reduce property taxes and government spending: > An examination of transcripts since 2016 from Kerr County’s governing body, the commissioners court, offers a peek into a small Texas county paralyzed by two competing interests: to make one of the country’s most dangerous region for flash flooding safer and to heed to near constant calls from constituents to reduce property taxes and government waste. They did apply for a FEMA grant for this, but apparently there was an issue with the application: > By the next year, officials had sent off its application for a $731,413 grant to FEMA to help bring $976,000 worth of flood warning upgrades, including 10 high water detection systems without flashers, 20 gauges, possible outdoor sirens, and more. > “The purpose of this project is to provide Kerr County with a flood warning system,” the county wrote in its application. “The System will be utilized for mass notification to citizens about high water levels and flooding conditions throughout Kerr County.” > But the Texas Division of Emergency Management, which oversees billions of FEMA dollars designed to prevent disasters, denied the application because they didn’t have a current hazard mitigation plan. They resubmitted it, news outlets reported, but by then, priority was given to counties that had suffered damage from Hurricane Harvey. A great opportunity came in 2021 to deal with this but it was not taken: > In 2021, Kerr County was awarded a $10.2 million windfall from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, which Congress passed that same year to support local governments impacted by the pandemic. Cities and counties were given flexibility to use the money on a variety of expenses, including those related to storm-related infrastructure. Corpus Christi, for example, allocated $15 million of its ARPA funding to “rehabilitate and/or replace aging storm water infrastructure.” Waco’s McLennan County spent $868,000 on low water crossings. > Kerr County did not opt for ARPA to fund flood warning systems despite commissioners discussing such projects nearly two dozen times since 2016. In fact, a survey sent to residents about ARPA spending showed that 42% of the 180 responses wanted to reject the $10 million bonus altogether, largely on political grounds. > “I’m here to ask this court today to send this money back to the Biden administration, which I consider to be the most criminal treasonous communist government ever to hold the White House,” one resident told commissioners in April 2022, fearing strings were attached to the money. > “We don't want to be bought by the federal government, thank you very much,” another resident told commissioners. “We'd like the federal government to stay out of Kerr County and their money.” [1] https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/10/texas-kerr-county-commissioners-flooding-warning/ https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/10/texas-kerr-county-co...
timeon 1y ago
> I think what is going to come of this will be an alert system Now is better then never. However this was already evaluated and dismissed before. Tragedy described in the blog could be prevented. Here is example from Kerr county commissioners' court: > COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You know we had a baby flood a couple weeks ago, a month or so, whatever it was. And I keep hearing these reports of the old, old system, and I know we're not going to deal with that though. Expect that to be gone where the Jones call the Smiths, and the Smiths call Camp Rio Vista, and Rio Vista blah, blah, blah, along down the line. But it's still there and it still works. The thought of our beautiful Kerr County having these damn sirens going off in the middle of night, I'm going to have to start drinking again to put up with y'all. -- (2016) https://legacy.co.kerr.tx.us/commcrt/minutes/2016/062716CC.txt https://legacy.co.kerr.tx.us/commcrt/minutes/2016/062716CC.t...
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

kubb 1y ago

What’s your opinion about letting developers build on floodplains?

conductr 1y ago
I honestly think it’s a bit of a loaded question and I’m not going to opine here, my personal opinion doesn’t matter anyway

komali2 1y ago

Texan as well here. > I think what is going to come of this will be an alert system similar to tornado sirens we have up in Dallas. I don't share your optimism. Where will the budget for this come from? We both know our state, and how it votes. https://apnews.com/article/texas-floods-camp-warning-system-not-funded-0845df62390b9623331ba4a030c5fc7d https://apnews.com/article/texas-floods-camp-warning-system-... We'll get the 1 million now of course, for this region, for this type of disaster, for now. In 8 years if another million is needed to upkeep the system, I don't think we'll get the funding again, unless some more kids died. Actually... maybe we won't even get the 1 million now. How many kids died at Uvalde, for example? My mom's a Texan teacher. The post Uvalde response: her principal asked her how she'd feel about carrying a handgun in school. My experience is if an issue is politicized, then Texas will make the wrong choice, every time. I have no hope for my state anymore. If you can maintain optimism, I admire you and hope you stick around, we'll need more people like you.

tzs 1y ago
Here's an interesting article from a few days ago on Kerr county's efforts in recent years to address this [1]. They couldn't come up with the money on their own because apparently a lot of the residents are really into wanting to reduce property taxes and government spending: > An examination of transcripts since 2016 from Kerr County’s governing body, the commissioners court, offers a peek into a small Texas county paralyzed by two competing interests: to make one of the country’s most dangerous region for flash flooding safer and to heed to near constant calls from constituents to reduce property taxes and government waste. They did apply for a FEMA grant for this, but apparently there was an issue with the application: > By the next year, officials had sent off its application for a $731,413 grant to FEMA to help bring $976,000 worth of flood warning upgrades, including 10 high water detection systems without flashers, 20 gauges, possible outdoor sirens, and more. > “The purpose of this project is to provide Kerr County with a flood warning system,” the county wrote in its application. “The System will be utilized for mass notification to citizens about high water levels and flooding conditions throughout Kerr County.” > But the Texas Division of Emergency Management, which oversees billions of FEMA dollars designed to prevent disasters, denied the application because they didn’t have a current hazard mitigation plan. They resubmitted it, news outlets reported, but by then, priority was given to counties that had suffered damage from Hurricane Harvey. A great opportunity came in 2021 to deal with this but it was not taken: > In 2021, Kerr County was awarded a $10.2 million windfall from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, which Congress passed that same year to support local governments impacted by the pandemic. Cities and counties were given flexibility to use the money on a variety of expenses, including those related to storm-related infrastructure. Corpus Christi, for example, allocated $15 million of its ARPA funding to “rehabilitate and/or replace aging storm water infrastructure.” Waco’s McLennan County spent $868,000 on low water crossings. > Kerr County did not opt for ARPA to fund flood warning systems despite commissioners discussing such projects nearly two dozen times since 2016. In fact, a survey sent to residents about ARPA spending showed that 42% of the 180 responses wanted to reject the $10 million bonus altogether, largely on political grounds. > “I’m here to ask this court today to send this money back to the Biden administration, which I consider to be the most criminal treasonous communist government ever to hold the White House,” one resident told commissioners in April 2022, fearing strings were attached to the money. > “We don't want to be bought by the federal government, thank you very much,” another resident told commissioners. “We'd like the federal government to stay out of Kerr County and their money.” [1] https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/10/texas-kerr-county-commissioners-flooding-warning/ https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/10/texas-kerr-county-co...

timeon 1y ago

> I think what is going to come of this will be an alert system Now is better then never. However this was already evaluated and dismissed before. Tragedy described in the blog could be prevented. Here is example from Kerr county commissioners' court: > COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You know we had a baby flood a couple weeks ago, a month or so, whatever it was. And I keep hearing these reports of the old, old system, and I know we're not going to deal with that though. Expect that to be gone where the Jones call the Smiths, and the Smiths call Camp Rio Vista, and Rio Vista blah, blah, blah, along down the line. But it's still there and it still works. The thought of our beautiful Kerr County having these damn sirens going off in the middle of night, I'm going to have to start drinking again to put up with y'all. -- (2016) https://legacy.co.kerr.tx.us/commcrt/minutes/2016/062716CC.txt https://legacy.co.kerr.tx.us/commcrt/minutes/2016/062716CC.t...

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]