Emergency response questioned in Texas floods
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FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings
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The catastrophic Central Texas floods have claimed at least 121 lives and left 173 missing, as a report reveals that Kerr County officials were repeatedly denied state funding for an emergency flood warning system.
3don MSN
A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract for a flood warning system that would have been used to help with emergency response, local officials said.
Kerr County officials have for years talked about the need for a more robust flash-flood warning system, including sirens that would reach people in places with no cell service. But in the absence of that expensive infrastructure, they adopted IPAWS — which cost them nothing — as a way to alert more people by phone.
Some FEMA officials claim President Trump's cost-cutting policies are to blame for the delayed response to the disastrous Texas floods.
4don MSN
A "Basic Plan" for emergency response for three Texas counties labeled flash flooding as having a "major" impact on public safety, according to a page on a city website.
Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator W.B. “Dub” Thomas declined to comment when asked to explain the actions the county took in the early morning hours of Friday, CNN previously reported.