ɫɫ

Skip to main content
You have permission to edit this article.
Edit

A decade of missed opportunities: Texas couldn’t find $1M for flood warning system near camps

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.

Updated
4 min read
A decade of missed opportunities: Texas couldn't find $1M for flood warning system near camps

People search along the Guadalupe River after flooding in Kerrville, Texas on Wednesday , July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)


KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.

The agencies repeatedly failed to secure roughly $1 million for a project to better protect the county’s 50,000 residents and thousands of youth campers and tourists who spend time along the Guadalupe River in an area known as “flash-flood alley.” The plan, which would have installed flood monitoring equipment near Camp Mystic, cost about as much as the county spends on courthouse security every two years, or 1.5% of its annual budget.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

More from The Star & partners