Kerr County officials met Monday for the first time since the deadly flooding that devastated the Hill Country area on July 4.
County Judge Rob Kelly described the challenges in recovering victims.
“They found a trailer that is completely covered up with gravel and dirt in the river, 27 feet below the surface of the water,” Kelly said.
The meeting included a tense exchange between Judge Kelly and Commissioner Rich Paces. After Paces spoke at length about the difficulties, Kelly said, “This is not a press conference.” Paces quickly responded, “No, I want my say.”
Paces also shared how personal the tragedy has become.
“I’ve been getting death threats, can you imagine?” he said.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha spoke about the ongoing search and recovery efforts. He said investigators will be “tapped out” for the next year, with work potentially continuing into winter.
“I think we’ll still go strong for another month or two, up to maybe six months winding down as we move on,” Leitha said.
The commissioners court acknowledged they still do not have a clear count of how many people may have died in the county.
“It’s the tourists that came in for the Fourth weekend, the concert, the fireworks. We don’t know how many came. We don’t know where they are. We don’t know how many they’ve lost,” Kelly said.
