KERRVILLE, Texas – Dramatic 911 calls from the Fourth of July flooding in the Texas Hill Country have been released. These calls reveal the desperation of those caught up in the disaster.
Calls from Kendall County, obtained by KSAT Investigates through an open records request, paint a clearer picture of the chaos that ensued when the Guadalupe River turned into a black wall of water on July 4. The calls were requested from Boerne police, which maintains Kendall County’s dispatch, the county told KSAT.
As the river swelled in Kerr County, emergency centers in nearby counties like Kendall and Gillespie took on some of those 911 calls.
>> Flood timeline: Alerts, emergency response and pivotal moments in July 4 tragedy in the Hill Country
Audio released on Wednesday revealed that at least five calls were answered by Kendall dispatch but were transferred to Kerr.
“There’s a guy on top of a tree” in the middle of the Guadalupe River, one man who called 911 at 8:49 a.m. said. He was located at Carolyn and Simpson Roads, located along Main Highway between Center Point and Comfort. The call was transferred to Kerr County.
Another person in the same area called from an Airbnb at 9:02 a.m. and said the house was taking on floodwater.
Seven people were inside the home, including a baby, the caller said. “Our cabin is flooded, and we have a 2-year-old baby. We need help…," the caller said. “The chairs are floating.”
The call was also transferred to Kerr County, which the dispatcher called the “correct jurisdiction.”
The person called again eight minutes later.
“We still need somebody to get over here,” the caller said.
“They’re on their way, they’re coming as fast as they can, ok?” the dispatcher said.
“Well, the water is rising and we’re stressing even more, can you guys hurry ...” the caller pleaded.
“Ma’am, they’re coming as fast as they can, I promise ... Take a deep breath for me, but they are coming,” the operator replied.
A spokesperson for Boerne said while routing calls cross-county doesn’t happen often, it is “standard.”
“In high-volume situations, many 911 systems are designed with rollover features to ensure incoming calls are answered quickly, even if they reach a neighboring county’s dispatch center,” said spokesperson Chris Shadrock. “When that happens, our dispatchers collect the necessary information and relay it to the appropriate jurisdiction.”
Shadrock said that there are several reasons why 911 calls from Kerr County may have been routed to dispatch centers outside the county on the morning of July 4th. Possible factors could have been:
- The caller’s location
- Which Cell tower picked up the call
- Overall Call volume across neighboring dispatch centers
In other calls we received from Kendall County dispatch, people reported attempts at self-evacuation and a missing father.
Kerr County has not released its 911 calls to KSAT as of Wednesday, Aug. 6.
The flooding ultimately claimed more than 130 lives in Central Texas, including at least 108 in Kerr County alone.
Calls answered by Gillespie County dispatch
ABC News obtained 911 calls from Gillespie County through an open records request.
In one call, a woman pleads with a Gillespie County 911 dispatcher to help find people swept away by floodwaters.
“911, what is your location and emergency?” the Gillespie County dispatcher asked in one call.
“The Guadalupe River in Kerrville,” the woman replied. “I need someone to take me seriously. I have two missing people that were swept away in their Airstream at 4:58 this morning. However, one phone is still ringing.”
The operator told the caller he was transferring her call to Kerr County because Kerrville is not in Gillespie County.
The caller’s voice grew urgent.
“If you could take my information and take the phone number, they might be able to be found,” the woman told the dispatcher. “Please do not do this to me.”
In another call, a father frantically attempted to locate his daughter, a camper at Camp Mystic.
“Hi, I’m near Kerrville,” he told the dispatcher. “My daughter’s at Camp Mystic. I just received a report indirectly that she was airlifted. I’m trying to locate her whereabouts so I can meet her immediately.”
“Where was she airlifted from?” the dispatcher asked.
“Um, the river. She was part of the campers who were flooded,” the father replied. “Where was this? Hunt, Texas.”
In another recording, a separate dispatcher said there were no reports of flooding in Gillespie County at that time.
“However, Kerr County is getting bad,” the operator said. “I don’t know everywhere because their dispatch is, like, beyond swamped.”
Nearly 400 calls were placed in Kerr County on July 4-5
KSAT Investigates obtained 911 call logs from the day of and the day after the flood in Kerr County.
In all, 380 calls were placed to 911 on July 4 and July 5 in Kerr County, according to records from the sheriff’s office.
Calls not only came into the sheriff’s office but also to the Texas Department of Public Safety, smaller volunteer fire departments — such as the departments in Hunt, Mountain Home and Center Point — and the Ingram Police Department, among other agencies.
During a joint state House and Senate committee hearing on July 31, three Kerr County leaders told lawmakers they were either asleep or out of town as the flooding unfolded.
William “Dub” Thomas, Kerr County’s emergency management coordinator, told lawmakers that he was sick the day before the flooding occurred and missed two calls with Texas Emergency Management officials.
Thomas and Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha both acknowledged being asleep when the crisis started.
Jerremy Hughes, Kerrville’s emergency management coordinator, put in retirement paperwork two days before the flood, according to the city. Despite preparing for retirement, testimony from July 31 indicated that Hughes was on duty that morning.
The city said Hughes left his position on July 24.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who holds a position in Texas that functions as the county’s chief executive officer, testified that he was out of town at Lake Travis, located near Austin, on the morning of the flood.
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