Over the last decade, an array of local and state agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert the type of disaster that swept away dozens of campers and others in Kerr County, Texas over the Fourth of July weekend.
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.
