A Texas firefighter pleaded for an alert amid rising flood waters. It took an hour to go out

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Wednesday 09 July 2025 15:48 EDT


As floodwaters in Texas rose in the early morning of July 4, a local firefighter petitioned for an emergency alert to quickly be sent out, but local officials do not appear to have followed his request until about an hour later, according to leaked audio.

The reported early-morning request raises questions about the timeline of events offered by local officials, who have said they had little advanced warning and no county system in place to alert residents about the floods, a disaster now responsible for at least 119 deaths, with even more still missing.

According to audio obtained by KSAT, at 4:22am, a fireman with the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department reportedly called into emergency dispatch to warn that the Guadalupe River appeared to be rapidly overshooting its banks. Around that time, the river rose as much as 26 feet in 45 minutes, according to state officials. The firefighter urged officials to authorize a CodeRED alert, an emergency system that would send warning messages to the cellphones of people who had previously signed up for the service.

A Kerr County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher responded that the request would need approval from a supervisor. The earliest CodeRED alerts appear to have reached local residents about an hour later, according to multiple local media outlets, while some reported not getting their first CodeRED alert until after 10am.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/texas-flood-alert-timeline-delay-b2785898.html

---

I have been signed up with Ready.gov for the CodeRED alerts for awhile now (they can come on phones - cell & landline as voice calls, by text, and email). I happened to have gotten a pile of EAS and CodeRED alerts myself Tuesday evening when I was under a Tornado Warning and Flash Flood Warning, and even last night, where the blaring EAS notice and CodeRED calls/texts were coming in with more Flash Flood Warnings.

[mnhtnbb]

1. Here in Durham NC my phone was blowing up

With flood warning alerts the night of July 6th when we were experiencing the remnants of Chantal in the Triangle area. There were hundreds of water rescues that night by Durham and Chapel Hill fire departments. There were several deaths. Flooding in the area was so bad it was covered by the NY Times. Durham FD went door to door in one area to evacuate people before flooding got so bad they'd be trapped.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/weather/tropical-storm-chantal-floods-north-carolina.html

I suspect without the alerts there might have been more people on the roads and the death toll might have been worse.

The alerts do save lives.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. "The alerts do save lives."

Agree and that is why I'm concerned for those in rural or mountainous areas where there is either spotty cell coverage and/or internet or none at all.

This was one of the things that Biden's various pieces of legislation were attempting to help with - getting service out to rural areas. But that effort looks to be ditched or altered by 45 and the GOP loons, if it hasn't already been - especially now with "the feud".

[Maggiemayhem]

6. NOAA Weather Radios would be a cheap solution.

[Bengus81]

2. Well...don't ask that em..."Mayor" or Greg Abbott. Their TIRED of people asking

tough questions. I'll bet more ridiculous football comparisons will solve all the problems Greg.

[et tu]

4. tombstones with gold paint nt

[Attilatheblond]

9. When those in 'authority' refuse to acknowledge and shoulder the responsibilities that come with the positions

citizens will ALWAYS be harmed.

Sadly, the wrong people want those positions of authority for all the wrong reasons and nobody will take responsibility for anything.

We had is so good under Biden and his remarkable team's leadership and follow through. Too bad so many voters don't take their own responsibilities seriously and stay informed with facts instead of believing in whatever appeals to their biases. Too bad so many didn't bother to vote. Too bad people elected so many pols who will gerrymander to get the wrong people into policy making positions. Too bad we didn't have adequate protections of the ballots.

Responsibility is something in very short supply in this nation. Those who take it are outnumbered in a culture where kicking the can down the lane is the standard operating system of too many.

This latest tragedy is on many shoulders. More tragedies will come. Not all can be prevented, but many could be avoided or at least mitigated if voters would stop hating and start honestly paying attention to the people they put in authority.

This nation is being ruined by selfishness and the venomous creatures who use society's worst tendencies for their own purposes.

[Shipwack]

5. The supervisor was probably sleeping.

The dispatcher was afraid to wake him up, I bet.

I could be wrong, but I swear a given excuse for the slow/completely absent responses was,”It was early in the morning and too dark…”

[efhmc]

7. As I wrote somewhere on here a few thousand texts back. My husband had a weather alert radio

ages ago. I thought he was a freak about getting it. But he finally did. He was killed in a car accident in 94, so it was before then. We lived in Houston but we had and still have a ranch close to the San Saba and he was a fanatic about safety. Mostly about storms. With today's technology I cannot see why anyone would not have known of the dangers of this flood. I understand that the girls did not have their devises but why not their supervisors. Camp Mystic was a known part of your climb into society in Houston. Was once asked about the camp my daughters went to and answered either Girl Scout camp or Luther Hill.

[Attilatheblond]

10. Years ago, there was grant money to provide weather alert radios to rural public libraries

Sadly, rural libraries are not open 24/7. Community alert systems need to be loud and operational ALL THE TIME.

[Martin68]

8. The evidence of criminal negligence is mounting. the disaster is a direct result of MAGA policies, and we can expect

more just like it - or even worse. Wait until hurricane season strikes in full force. With FEMA and NOAA decimated, disaster is guaranteed. Red states will bear the brunt.

[efhmc]

11. I have lived it my entire life and get no help from my state government. Must relay on myself and those around me .

[70sEraVet]

12. If it was a ban on books,.....

Every librarian in the state would have been notified within THREE MINUTES!
A matter of priorities.

[mwmisses4289]

13. For once, it seems the media is doing their job

and not letting these folks wiggle out of their responsibility for not issuing the alert in a timely manner, nor letting them try to change the narrative by blaming someone else.
It shouldn't be amazing, but it is.