July 7, 2025 • 22 mins
A devastating flood in the Texas Hill Country has taken over 80 lives including young girls from Camp Mystic, raising questions about warning systems in these dangerous flash flood zones. The slow-moving tropical weather system combined with the unique geography of "Flash Flood Alley" created catastrophic conditions despite meteorologists' warnings days before.
• The Texas Hill Country's unique geography creates dangerous flash flooding conditions with multiple river systems prone to rapid rises
• Meteorologist Rick Mitchell explains the perfect storm of conditions: high pressure, a strong low-level jet, and a subtle disturbance creating stationary storms
• Four inches of rainfall alone can cause significant flooding, but some areas received 10+ inches in a short period
• Weather radios and river alarm systems could provide better warnings than text alerts, especially for camps where cell phones aren't allowed
• First responders, volunteers, and Texas-based HEB grocery stores have been instrumental in rescue and recovery efforts
• Political blame games and conspiracy theories distract from supporting victims and improving safety systems
To support flood victims, visit the Kerr County organization link posted on the Stories Inside the Man Cave Twitter/X page.
Please like and follow each of Stories Inside the Man Cave Podcast social media links on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
The Saxton name resonates in Austin.
Jim's late father, james Saxton, is a Longhorn legend, a
Heisman finalist while playingfor Darryl K Royal, and Jimmy is
a UT football legacy fromWestlake.
He has been insuring Austin fordecades.
He and his staff will give youold school hospitality when
servicing your insurance needs.
(00:50):
Thank you for joining me foranother episode of Stories
Inside the man Cave podcast.
I am Sean Clinch, the host ofthis podcast.
I am Sean Clinch, the host ofthis podcast and we're going to
(01:12):
step away from the usual sportsor sports-centric theme, because
what everyone is talking aboutis what has occurred here in the
Texas Hill Country over thelast three days.
I can speak for myself, I canspeak for everybody Mentally and
emotionally exhausted.
That describes most Texans andmany across the country who have
followed the story involvingthe epic flood in the Texas Hill
(01:34):
Country, which has taken over80 lives, including young girls
from Camp Mystic, which islocated near Kerrville, texas,
in Kerr County.
Yet there are people who haverevealed their vile feelings,
ridiculous and politicalopinions instead of respecting
(01:55):
those mourning the loss of livesfrom this tragedy.
How did this happen?
Let's talk about it Flash floodalley.
In Texas, we call it the hillcountry, the area of sharp rises
(02:18):
in elevation hills and valleyswhich begins on the balconies
escarpment.
The western side of Austin,where I am, is where it truly
begins.
It's a flood-prone area and thearea is known for its weather
and climate extremes droughtsand drought-busting rainfalls
(02:39):
and more often than not,unfortunately, these droughts
end with multiple days of stormsor a tropical storm.
The Concho River in San Angelo,the Guadalupe River, pertinalis
, comal, the Colorado River, sanGabriel, llano, san Saba and
Frio Rivers and the multipletributaries which feed into
(03:02):
these rivers all play a factorin this flash flooding in the
Texas Hill Country, all of whichdump into larger reservoirs,
lakes, as most of us call them.
The Guadalupe empties intoCanyon Lake, the guadalupe
empties into canyon lake, theguadalupe empties into canyon
lake on the north side of thelake, and the river continues on
(03:23):
the south side and goes all theway to the gulf coast.
Now the colorado river has acomplex series of dams managed
by the lcra, the, the LowerColorado River Authority, a
series of dam lakes beginningwith Lake Buchanan to the
northwest of Austin, inks Lakebelow that, then Lake LBJ,
(03:50):
marble Falls Lake, travis Lake,austin and Town Lake, then
Bastrop Lake downstream.
Now Lake LBJ is a constantlevel lake in between dam
systems, as is Lake Austin andTown Lake, which is created by
Longhorn Dam on the east side ofAustin, texas.
Now Lake Travis is the bowl, orthe big flood control lake,
(04:12):
which has a high capacity tohold floodwaters and is formed
by Mansfield Dam.
Now that you have a betterunderstanding of the topography,
of how all this works and allthe drainage systems and where
all of this water goes, when wedo have rain events, storm
events, you know it can floodquickly and due to the
(04:34):
slow-moving storm system whichhovered over the Hill Country
the past few days, almost a weekhere's something to put in
perspective In a week, lakeTravis has gone from 43% full to
64% to capacity, which is 681feet of elevation.
The high end when it is full is681 feet of elevation.
(04:59):
The high end when it is fulland which has the part, the time
frame that I remember thathappening the most was December
of 1991.
It's reached that since, but weare currently been in a drought
with a normal than wet patternlate spring, early summer so far
.
Now, how did this happen, thistragic event?
(05:20):
What happened was a slow,moving low pressure system,
tropical in nature, and rickmitchell, the chief
meteorologist of kxas in thedallas fort worth tv market.
Well, he explained it fast.
I saw this video from him oninstagram.
Rick was the chiefmeteorologist at koco, the absc
(05:41):
affiliate in okc, while I workedfor fox 25 in oklahoma city
what were the meteorologicalconditions that led to this
catastrophic flooding in centraltexas on thursday night?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
friday?
Let's take a look.
Okay, texas was under all oflast week.
Texas was under a ridge of highpressure in the upper
atmosphere.
You know we're talking 25,000feet.
The ridge was centered just toour east, over Louisiana, which
meant the circulation around itwas drawing in high level
moisture.
(06:15):
That's why last week was socloudy, showery from time to
time.
Some interesting things happened.
On thursday, though, the firstwhich of which was thursday
evening, a strong low-level jetdeveloped, that's, winds at
about 5 000 feet and thattransported in low level high,
abundant tropical moisture.
At the same time, on thursday,a little weakness in the ridge
(06:38):
had developed over the lubbockarea, and that was moving
southeast.
All of these ingredients cametogether over central texas in
an area that is known for flashflooding very dangerous area.
Some people have called it theflash flooding capital of texas
but all of that came together.
That little disturbancedeveloped over lubbock was
(06:58):
barely notable on the weathermaps.
Okay, you had to be very uh,looking at it with a very keen
eye to even see that it wasthere.
So this was not something thatwas highly advertised.
Yes, we assumed it would be wet, but the combination of that
disturbance with the stronglow-level jet provided these
(07:20):
thunderstorms that barely movedand that's how you got 10 inches
of rain in a very short periodof time, in some cases even more
than 10 inches of rain.
So you know, as meteorologistswe continue to live and learn.
We look at events, we studythose events.
Try to put it in here so thatif we see those conditions
coming together, we let you know.
All right, thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Rick explained it best in a way that all of us can
better understand what exactlyhappened.
It's an alignment of triggermechanisms for basically a slow
moving or stationary stormsystem and the remnants of
tropical storm Barry, which madelandfall in Mexico on June 29th
.
Now the storm dumped atremendous amount of rainfall
(08:04):
for quite a few days in theTexas Hill Country and including
here in Austin, and this watersteamrolled down the hills and
into the valleys, into thestreams and eventually into the
rivers I mentioned earlier.
The Guadalupe River isnotorious for violent flash
floods.
It has a history.
In fact, a similar situationthat just happened, like what
(08:29):
just happened, occurred in 1987in which lives were lost,
involving a youth summer campand a bus trying to transport
the kiddos out of harm's way,going through a little water
crossing system and a wave ofwater um was the culprit there.
Very sad, I remember that.
I remember the rescuing for thehelicopters and the national
(08:52):
guard coming in.
But there's a long history,dating back as far as records
could that were taken, you know,in the early 20th century, you
know.
And on the night of July 3rd,over 16 inches of rain fell in
Mason County, which is thenorthern part of the hill
(09:14):
country and think about that andeach of the streams eventually
pouring into the Guadalupe andits two forks, a tremendous
destructive wall of water formed, similar to that in 2015 on the
Blanco River, which tragicallytook the lives of so many in
Wimberley who were in cabinsnear the Blanco River.
(09:37):
Except, what happened the earlymorning of July 4th was much
worse.
I was there in Wimberley theday after that tragic flood.
I'll never forget it.
I'll never forget what I saw.
I'll never forget theconversations with the locals
there and the families, some ofthem affected.
It was a dark experience andextremely moving.
(10:01):
There's been so much criticismof the national weather service
and the blame game, especiallyon social media.
Stop it, stop with all thatnonsense.
The national weather service insan antonio and san angelo did
a tremendous job, as well asmeteorologists in Austin, san
Antonio and the DFW TV markets.
(10:24):
There were projections two, Ithink, two to three days prior
of up to four to eight inches inthat part of the hill country
where Kerrville is, where theGuadalupe River watershed is
located.
The criticism of the NationalWeather Service and the
(10:46):
politicizing of it all is alldisgraceful.
Four inches of rainfall justfour inches of rainfall in the
Texas hill country can causesignificant flash flooding.
I know this because I was bornand raised in Austin and stayed
at several places around theTexas Hill Country and I have
(11:07):
visited these same places sincemy return to Austin after two
decades.
When I returned about 13 yearsago.
It's dangerous, but it's partof our culture, it's part of the
topography, it's just part ofwhere we live.
Flash flood alley.
No one could have predicted theamount of rain that was
isolated in certain areas.
(11:28):
The National Weather Service andNOAA sent out multiple alerts
through text alert systems andthrough media, meaning radio and
TV.
The problem is we as a societyhave become dismissive of
texting alerts.
I'm guilty of that.
There's so many texting alerts.
If anything, this proves thatthe cuts to the National Weather
(11:51):
Service's offices on thehorizon are not warranted and
they need to be avoidedSeriously.
I mean that no cuts shouldhappen to the National Weather
Service, especially after whathappened.
But that did not affect whatoccurred with this storm and
this flooding event.
(12:11):
The National Weather Servicedid a hell of a job.
That office based out of SanAntonio and San Angelo.
What is an alternate way ofalerting campers, residents and
those vacationing in homes alongHill Country Rivers Weather
radios.
I know it sounds archaic, butthey work.
(12:32):
I have one, I have one.
They should have weather radiosin each of those cabins or
Airbnbs whatnot?
Because those emit an annoyingyet alarming notification.
I had to have one when I wasliving in Oklahoma City because
sound when any severe weather oran emergent situation, such as
a major flooding event, is aboutto occur, to get you out of
harm's way.
(12:52):
Now, keep in mind the campers,such as Camp Mystic.
(13:18):
You're not allowed to havedigital devices or cell phones,
so those alerts were not goingto be received unless the camp
counselors or owners of theproperty had those in their
possession.
You know.
The only other alternative arealarm systems along these rivers
, in the hill country wherecamps and vacation homes are
(13:38):
located, and for the residentsof these communities.
This would alert when a certainwater level or flooding is
headed downstream, to allow moretime for evacuation.
I mean, I believe those doexist on parts of the Perton
Allis river and those were, if Iremember correctly, were being
discussed, or a plan for them tobe implemented, to be installed
(14:03):
along the Blanco River afterthat tragic flood in 2015.
So the question I have is us, ahuman nature, do we ever learn
from these events.
The hard fact, the sad fact is,as I'm talking right now, over
80 people are dead and answersare deserved and plans moving
(14:27):
forward are deserved, especiallyby the families affected.
Which leads me to the pressconferences by the Kerr County
leadership, the governor andother positions of leadership.
We see this all the time aftersomething like this and I've
been a part of these type ofpressers Enough with the
hand-jobbing and the thankingeach other.
(14:48):
Just take accountability andthe thanking each other.
Just take accountability.
Be a leader.
Deliver the concise information, be human, be real and
acknowledge the families whichare mourning.
I can't imagine being a parentand not knowing where my child
is, if he or she is alive orstuck in a tree or is lost in
(15:10):
the dark somewhere in a river,clinging on to something for
dear life.
Avoid the blaming.
Solid leadership deliversupdated information and a plan
and articulating that I get it.
Leadership in these situationsis a tough job.
I don't envy any of them inthat position, but as a leader,
(15:35):
you have to speak to youraudience instead of the media
and not blaming the media forany of this whatsoever.
Having said that, the real MVPsare the first responders and
volunteers.
Having said that, the real MVPsare the first responders and
volunteers.
First responder teams arecomprised of sheriff's
departments, local policedepartments, texas Parks and
(15:58):
Wildlife, game wardens and DPSSacrificing their lives to
rescue and recover and cleaningup dangerous debris and venomous
snakes and wildlife within thisdebris.
And all of the volunteers.
I know of three and I would bethere in a heartbeat to help my
(16:21):
fellow Texans.
There's a lot of people to bethankful for, because there has
been a tremendous response,tremendous response from people
who have no ties to this, justdoing it out of the goodness of
their hearts, because they careabout people, care about Texas.
Let's not forget about theother communities affected by
(16:43):
the flooding event on otherrivers and tributaries Leander,
liberty Hill, lago Vista, hunt,ingram, san Angelo, bertram,
georgetown, to name a few.
It's a broad area with missingpeople as we speak and people
who have lost their lives inthese areas, and not to mention
(17:05):
all the property damage.
I mean.
Take, for example, the SanGabriel River, which flows
underneath the Austin AvenueBridge in Georgetown.
I've seen flooding events there, but what we saw July 4th and
July 5th?
when all the water made its waydownstream.
I had never seen anythinganything remotely close to that,
(17:29):
especially on the San Gabrieland on the Llano Rivers.
Nothing like that.
And I'm not one to exaggerate,I'm just trying to be objective,
to the point and kind ofrelaying the feelings how we all
feel.
It's sad and, honestly, no oneis at fault for this.
(17:50):
This is all Mother Nature andwith where we live.
But we do need to improve floodalarm systems and funding for
such systems Period Point blank.
Take, for example, in 1981, theMemorial Day flood I was seven,
going on eight the Memorial Dayflood here in Austin.
(18:11):
It was a storm system which saton Austin that Sunday night.
I mean it dumped I can'tremember how many inches of rain
flooded Shoal Creek to a pointwhere it was a river.
Go down Shoal Creek Boulevardand Lamar Boulevard in Austin.
This had become a major river.
(18:33):
Northwest Park, which is knownas Sheffield Park, was a part of
a river, destroyed billions ofdollars of homes, businesses my
late father's business whom hewas a leader of, destroyed cars
I just remember it and it justwas a tremendous amount of
(18:56):
damage.
And what was the response?
They rebuilt areas with floodcontrol and flood alarm systems
notifying digitally and for thereaction of the authorities to
make decisions.
But personally, the one partthat I hate about this what has
(19:19):
happened?
It's bad enough that we've lostlives.
Personally, I've witnessed andnoticed pure ignorance on social
media and out in public, withsome people taking political
jabs and placing blame and thisis the part I don't understand
that some people have placed onsocial media, pressed, send on
(19:40):
this and thought it was okay todo this, that the state of Texas
deserves what we have becauseof political indifferences or
differences.
That's pure ignorance and youlook like an idiot and, quite
honestly, it's disrespectful tothe families of those whose
(20:01):
loved ones who are no longerwith us or are missing.
Stop with the conspiracytheories as well.
This is insane.
There's nothing positive aboutthis.
Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Instead of creating moredivision and creating absurd
(20:36):
narratives, find a way to notonly clean but save lives or
recover loved ones.
Now I mentioned the real MVPs.
Heb is another MVP.
That Texas-based grocery storechain embodies what Texans are
(20:57):
all about and once again, heb'spresence at the sites are the
site of a natural disaster.
To feed, treat and supportcommunities affected.
Affected at this flooding event.
The HEV's there Medication,treatment, feeding and creating
(21:18):
something positive for thesecommunities and those affected
by the floods.
It's amazing what this grocerystore chain does time and time
again.
They are more reliable, moreorganized than FEMA or anything
government related, andtrustworthy.
Texans are resilient.
We all hurt for these youngpeople who lost their lives and
(21:42):
their families and every one oftheir friends.
Let's all do our part, whetherit be prayers, contributing in
some form or volunteering andspeaking of.
I posted info on the storiesinside the man Cave Twitter
slash X site with a link to anorganization in Kerr County in
which you can donate orcontribute to or find out
(22:05):
information on how you can helpTexans.
Helping Texans it's always goodto talk about it, thank you.
The Saxton name resonates in Austin.
Jim's late father, james Saxton, is a Longhorn legend, a
Heisman finalist while playingfor Darryl K Royal, and Jimmy is
a UT football legacy fromWestlake.
He has been insuring Austin fordecades.
He and his staff will give youold school hospitality when
servicing your insurance needs.
(00:50):
Thank you for joining me foranother episode of Stories
Inside the man Cave podcast.
I am Sean Clinch, the host ofthis podcast.
I am Sean Clinch, the host ofthis podcast and we're going to
(01:12):
step away from the usual sportsor sports-centric theme, because
what everyone is talking aboutis what has occurred here in the
Texas Hill Country over thelast three days.
I can speak for myself, I canspeak for everybody Mentally and
emotionally exhausted.
That describes most Texans andmany across the country who have
followed the story involvingthe epic flood in the Texas Hill
(01:34):
Country, which has taken over80 lives, including young girls
from Camp Mystic, which islocated near Kerrville, texas,
in Kerr County.
Yet there are people who haverevealed their vile feelings,
ridiculous and politicalopinions instead of respecting
(01:55):
those mourning the loss of livesfrom this tragedy.
How did this happen?
Let's talk about it Flash floodalley.
In Texas, we call it the hillcountry, the area of sharp rises
(02:18):
in elevation hills and valleyswhich begins on the balconies
escarpment.
The western side of Austin,where I am, is where it truly
begins.
It's a flood-prone area and thearea is known for its weather
and climate extremes droughtsand drought-busting rainfalls
(02:39):
and more often than not,unfortunately, these droughts
end with multiple days of stormsor a tropical storm.
The Concho River in San Angelo,the Guadalupe River, pertinalis
, comal, the Colorado River, sanGabriel, llano, san Saba and
Frio Rivers and the multipletributaries which feed into
(03:02):
these rivers all play a factorin this flash flooding in the
Texas Hill Country, all of whichdump into larger reservoirs,
lakes, as most of us call them.
The Guadalupe empties intoCanyon Lake, the guadalupe
empties into canyon lake, theguadalupe empties into canyon
lake on the north side of thelake, and the river continues on
(03:23):
the south side and goes all theway to the gulf coast.
Now the colorado river has acomplex series of dams managed
by the lcra, the, the LowerColorado River Authority, a
series of dam lakes beginningwith Lake Buchanan to the
northwest of Austin, inks Lakebelow that, then Lake LBJ,
(03:50):
marble Falls Lake, travis Lake,austin and Town Lake, then
Bastrop Lake downstream.
Now Lake LBJ is a constantlevel lake in between dam
systems, as is Lake Austin andTown Lake, which is created by
Longhorn Dam on the east side ofAustin, texas.
Now Lake Travis is the bowl, orthe big flood control lake,
(04:12):
which has a high capacity tohold floodwaters and is formed
by Mansfield Dam.
Now that you have a betterunderstanding of the topography,
of how all this works and allthe drainage systems and where
all of this water goes, when wedo have rain events, storm
events, you know it can floodquickly and due to the
(04:34):
slow-moving storm system whichhovered over the Hill Country
the past few days, almost a weekhere's something to put in
perspective In a week, lakeTravis has gone from 43% full to
64% to capacity, which is 681feet of elevation.
The high end when it is full is681 feet of elevation.
(04:59):
The high end when it is fulland which has the part, the time
frame that I remember thathappening the most was December
of 1991.
It's reached that since, but weare currently been in a drought
with a normal than wet patternlate spring, early summer so far
.
Now, how did this happen, thistragic event?
(05:20):
What happened was a slow,moving low pressure system,
tropical in nature, and rickmitchell, the chief
meteorologist of kxas in thedallas fort worth tv market.
Well, he explained it fast.
I saw this video from him oninstagram.
Rick was the chiefmeteorologist at koco, the absc
(05:41):
affiliate in okc, while I workedfor fox 25 in oklahoma city
what were the meteorologicalconditions that led to this
catastrophic flooding in centraltexas on thursday night?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
friday?
Let's take a look.
Okay, texas was under all oflast week.
Texas was under a ridge of highpressure in the upper
atmosphere.
You know we're talking 25,000feet.
The ridge was centered just toour east, over Louisiana, which
meant the circulation around itwas drawing in high level
moisture.
(06:15):
That's why last week was socloudy, showery from time to
time.
Some interesting things happened.
On thursday, though, the firstwhich of which was thursday
evening, a strong low-level jetdeveloped, that's, winds at
about 5 000 feet and thattransported in low level high,
abundant tropical moisture.
At the same time, on thursday,a little weakness in the ridge
(06:38):
had developed over the lubbockarea, and that was moving
southeast.
All of these ingredients cametogether over central texas in
an area that is known for flashflooding very dangerous area.
Some people have called it theflash flooding capital of texas
but all of that came together.
That little disturbancedeveloped over lubbock was
(06:58):
barely notable on the weathermaps.
Okay, you had to be very uh,looking at it with a very keen
eye to even see that it wasthere.
So this was not something thatwas highly advertised.
Yes, we assumed it would be wet, but the combination of that
disturbance with the stronglow-level jet provided these
(07:20):
thunderstorms that barely movedand that's how you got 10 inches
of rain in a very short periodof time, in some cases even more
than 10 inches of rain.
So you know, as meteorologistswe continue to live and learn.
We look at events, we studythose events.
Try to put it in here so thatif we see those conditions
coming together, we let you know.
All right, thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Rick explained it best in a way that all of us can
better understand what exactlyhappened.
It's an alignment of triggermechanisms for basically a slow
moving or stationary stormsystem and the remnants of
tropical storm Barry, which madelandfall in Mexico on June 29th
.
Now the storm dumped atremendous amount of rainfall
(08:04):
for quite a few days in theTexas Hill Country and including
here in Austin, and this watersteamrolled down the hills and
into the valleys, into thestreams and eventually into the
rivers I mentioned earlier.
The Guadalupe River isnotorious for violent flash
floods.
It has a history.
In fact, a similar situationthat just happened, like what
(08:29):
just happened, occurred in 1987in which lives were lost,
involving a youth summer campand a bus trying to transport
the kiddos out of harm's way,going through a little water
crossing system and a wave ofwater um was the culprit there.
Very sad, I remember that.
I remember the rescuing for thehelicopters and the national
(08:52):
guard coming in.
But there's a long history,dating back as far as records
could that were taken, you know,in the early 20th century, you
know.
And on the night of July 3rd,over 16 inches of rain fell in
Mason County, which is thenorthern part of the hill
(09:14):
country and think about that andeach of the streams eventually
pouring into the Guadalupe andits two forks, a tremendous
destructive wall of water formed, similar to that in 2015 on the
Blanco River, which tragicallytook the lives of so many in
Wimberley who were in cabinsnear the Blanco River.
(09:37):
Except, what happened the earlymorning of July 4th was much
worse.
I was there in Wimberley theday after that tragic flood.
I'll never forget it.
I'll never forget what I saw.
I'll never forget theconversations with the locals
there and the families, some ofthem affected.
It was a dark experience andextremely moving.
(10:01):
There's been so much criticismof the national weather service
and the blame game, especiallyon social media.
Stop it, stop with all thatnonsense.
The national weather service insan antonio and san angelo did
a tremendous job, as well asmeteorologists in Austin, san
Antonio and the DFW TV markets.
(10:24):
There were projections two, Ithink, two to three days prior
of up to four to eight inches inthat part of the hill country
where Kerrville is, where theGuadalupe River watershed is
located.
The criticism of the NationalWeather Service and the
(10:46):
politicizing of it all is alldisgraceful.
Four inches of rainfall justfour inches of rainfall in the
Texas hill country can causesignificant flash flooding.
I know this because I was bornand raised in Austin and stayed
at several places around theTexas Hill Country and I have
(11:07):
visited these same places sincemy return to Austin after two
decades.
When I returned about 13 yearsago.
It's dangerous, but it's partof our culture, it's part of the
topography, it's just part ofwhere we live.
Flash flood alley.
No one could have predicted theamount of rain that was
isolated in certain areas.
(11:28):
The National Weather Service andNOAA sent out multiple alerts
through text alert systems andthrough media, meaning radio and
TV.
The problem is we as a societyhave become dismissive of
texting alerts.
I'm guilty of that.
There's so many texting alerts.
If anything, this proves thatthe cuts to the National Weather
(11:51):
Service's offices on thehorizon are not warranted and
they need to be avoidedSeriously.
I mean that no cuts shouldhappen to the National Weather
Service, especially after whathappened.
But that did not affect whatoccurred with this storm and
this flooding event.
(12:11):
The National Weather Servicedid a hell of a job.
That office based out of SanAntonio and San Angelo.
What is an alternate way ofalerting campers, residents and
those vacationing in homes alongHill Country Rivers Weather
radios.
I know it sounds archaic, butthey work.
(12:32):
I have one, I have one.
They should have weather radiosin each of those cabins or
Airbnbs whatnot?
Because those emit an annoyingyet alarming notification.
I had to have one when I wasliving in Oklahoma City because
sound when any severe weather oran emergent situation, such as
a major flooding event, is aboutto occur, to get you out of
harm's way.
(12:52):
Now, keep in mind the campers,such as Camp Mystic.
(13:18):
You're not allowed to havedigital devices or cell phones,
so those alerts were not goingto be received unless the camp
counselors or owners of theproperty had those in their
possession.
You know.
The only other alternative arealarm systems along these rivers
, in the hill country wherecamps and vacation homes are
(13:38):
located, and for the residentsof these communities.
This would alert when a certainwater level or flooding is
headed downstream, to allow moretime for evacuation.
I mean, I believe those doexist on parts of the Perton
Allis river and those were, if Iremember correctly, were being
discussed, or a plan for them tobe implemented, to be installed
(14:03):
along the Blanco River afterthat tragic flood in 2015.
So the question I have is us, ahuman nature, do we ever learn
from these events.
The hard fact, the sad fact is,as I'm talking right now, over
80 people are dead and answersare deserved and plans moving
(14:27):
forward are deserved, especiallyby the families affected.
Which leads me to the pressconferences by the Kerr County
leadership, the governor andother positions of leadership.
We see this all the time aftersomething like this and I've
been a part of these type ofpressers Enough with the
hand-jobbing and the thankingeach other.
(14:48):
Just take accountability andthe thanking each other.
Just take accountability.
Be a leader.
Deliver the concise information, be human, be real and
acknowledge the families whichare mourning.
I can't imagine being a parentand not knowing where my child
is, if he or she is alive orstuck in a tree or is lost in
(15:10):
the dark somewhere in a river,clinging on to something for
dear life.
Avoid the blaming.
Solid leadership deliversupdated information and a plan
and articulating that I get it.
Leadership in these situationsis a tough job.
I don't envy any of them inthat position, but as a leader,
(15:35):
you have to speak to youraudience instead of the media
and not blaming the media forany of this whatsoever.
Having said that, the real MVPsare the first responders and
volunteers.
Having said that, the real MVPsare the first responders and
volunteers.
First responder teams arecomprised of sheriff's
departments, local policedepartments, texas Parks and
(15:58):
Wildlife, game wardens and DPSSacrificing their lives to
rescue and recover and cleaningup dangerous debris and venomous
snakes and wildlife within thisdebris.
And all of the volunteers.
I know of three and I would bethere in a heartbeat to help my
(16:21):
fellow Texans.
There's a lot of people to bethankful for, because there has
been a tremendous response,tremendous response from people
who have no ties to this, justdoing it out of the goodness of
their hearts, because they careabout people, care about Texas.
Let's not forget about theother communities affected by
(16:43):
the flooding event on otherrivers and tributaries Leander,
liberty Hill, lago Vista, hunt,ingram, san Angelo, bertram,
georgetown, to name a few.
It's a broad area with missingpeople as we speak and people
who have lost their lives inthese areas, and not to mention
(17:05):
all the property damage.
I mean.
Take, for example, the SanGabriel River, which flows
underneath the Austin AvenueBridge in Georgetown.
I've seen flooding events there, but what we saw July 4th and
July 5th?
when all the water made its waydownstream.
I had never seen anythinganything remotely close to that,
(17:29):
especially on the San Gabrieland on the Llano Rivers.
Nothing like that.
And I'm not one to exaggerate,I'm just trying to be objective,
to the point and kind ofrelaying the feelings how we all
feel.
It's sad and, honestly, no oneis at fault for this.
(17:50):
This is all Mother Nature andwith where we live.
But we do need to improve floodalarm systems and funding for
such systems Period Point blank.
Take, for example, in 1981, theMemorial Day flood I was seven,
going on eight the Memorial Dayflood here in Austin.
(18:11):
It was a storm system which saton Austin that Sunday night.
I mean it dumped I can'tremember how many inches of rain
flooded Shoal Creek to a pointwhere it was a river.
Go down Shoal Creek Boulevardand Lamar Boulevard in Austin.
This had become a major river.
(18:33):
Northwest Park, which is knownas Sheffield Park, was a part of
a river, destroyed billions ofdollars of homes, businesses my
late father's business whom hewas a leader of, destroyed cars
I just remember it and it justwas a tremendous amount of
(18:56):
damage.
And what was the response?
They rebuilt areas with floodcontrol and flood alarm systems
notifying digitally and for thereaction of the authorities to
make decisions.
But personally, the one partthat I hate about this what has
(19:19):
happened?
It's bad enough that we've lostlives.
Personally, I've witnessed andnoticed pure ignorance on social
media and out in public, withsome people taking political
jabs and placing blame and thisis the part I don't understand
that some people have placed onsocial media, pressed, send on
(19:40):
this and thought it was okay todo this, that the state of Texas
deserves what we have becauseof political indifferences or
differences.
That's pure ignorance and youlook like an idiot and, quite
honestly, it's disrespectful tothe families of those whose
(20:01):
loved ones who are no longerwith us or are missing.
Stop with the conspiracytheories as well.
This is insane.
There's nothing positive aboutthis.
Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Instead of creating moredivision and creating absurd
(20:36):
narratives, find a way to notonly clean but save lives or
recover loved ones.
Now I mentioned the real MVPs.
Heb is another MVP.
That Texas-based grocery storechain embodies what Texans are
(20:57):
all about and once again, heb'spresence at the sites are the
site of a natural disaster.
To feed, treat and supportcommunities affected.
Affected at this flooding event.
The HEV's there Medication,treatment, feeding and creating
(21:18):
something positive for thesecommunities and those affected
by the floods.
It's amazing what this grocerystore chain does time and time
again.
They are more reliable, moreorganized than FEMA or anything
government related, andtrustworthy.
Texans are resilient.
We all hurt for these youngpeople who lost their lives and
(21:42):
their families and every one oftheir friends.
Let's all do our part, whetherit be prayers, contributing in
some form or volunteering andspeaking of.
I posted info on the storiesinside the man Cave Twitter
slash X site with a link to anorganization in Kerr County in
which you can donate orcontribute to or find out
(22:05):
information on how you can helpTexans.
Helping Texans it's always goodto talk about it, thank you.
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