Donald I, emperor of the world.

[icowden]

So do we know for certain that there was no opportunity for communication to reach that area?

An early warning alarm system had been proposed for years previously but was deemed too expensive. Kerr County also didn't issue evacuation orders where the cops go around will loudhailers trying to wake people up - apparently they were concerned that evacuating cars would get trapped in the floods. The first alert was at 1:14am the last at 4:03am and they were sent by mobile phone - so if your phone was off or had no signal or didn't wake you....

The state is now saying that they will pay for flood sirens,
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/07/us/texas-floods-warning-system-invs

Also, they have a problem with stupid people:

Moser, who retired from the commission in 2021, told CNN that his efforts to improve the local system hit wall after wall over the years. After massive flooding elsewhere in the Hill Country region in 2015, Moser said he studied how nearby Comal County had installed sirens, adopted plans for shutting off low-water crossings and made other flood preparations.

He suggested that Kerr County follow suit. But some locals questioned where the funding would come from, while others worried about noise: “Some people didn’t like the concept of sirens going off and disturbing everybody,” Moser said.

One of his fellow commissioners, H. A. “Buster” Baldwin, voiced those concerns at a 2016 meeting.

It also seems that a lot of the cabins in Camp Mystic were built on the flood plain most likely to flood and no-one seems to have noticed whether they should be there as they had been there for 50+ years.

 

[CXRAndy]

It also seems that a lot of the cabins in Camp Mystic were built on the flood plain most likely to flood and no-one seems to have noticed whether they should be there as they had been there for 50+ years

Tragic as it is, it must be a rare occurrence if cabins have been there over 50 years.

 

[Ian H]

An early warning alarm system had been proposed for years previously but was deemed too expensive. Kerr County also didn't issue evacuation orders where the cops go around will loudhailers trying to wake people up - apparently they were concerned that evacuating cars would get trapped in the floods. The first alert was at 1:14am the last at 4:03am and they were sent by mobile phone - so if your phone was off or had no signal or didn't wake you....

The state is now saying that they will pay for flood sirens,
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/07/us/texas-floods-warning-system-invs

Also, they have a problem with stupid people:


It also seems that a lot of the cabins in Camp Mystic were built on the flood plain most likely to flood and no-one seems to have noticed whether they should be there as they had been there for 50+ years.

It's an interesting question as to what data they might use for a revised risk assessment. Elephants in the room an' all that.

 

[briantrumpet]

It's an interesting question as to what data they might use for a revised risk assessment. Elephants in the room an' all that.

Hang on, no-one told be elephants were involved.

 

[briantrumpet]

It also seems that a lot of the cabins in Camp Mystic were built on the flood plain most likely to flood and no-one seems to have noticed whether they should be there as they had been there for 50+ years.

It seems to be quite a common type of place to put campsites (obviously you don't want houses washed away...), but you might have thought that they might have taken the odd extra precaution for flood-plain campsites in an area known as 'flash flood alley'. I mean, there's a bit of a clue there...