Yep…
I wouldnt be suprised if this flood has an impact on the entire summer camp industry
Religion or not, it is an industry and an expensive one
I think it will only affect the industry if there are major lawsuits that aren’t settled, but right now I don’t see any black mark on the summer camp industry coming from this.
I don’t khow how people see all the natural disasters and think we need less federal emergency management . Thought’s and prayers if that is too political of a statement
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I heard reports they only had 45 mins to 1 hour or so before it hit which isn’t much time.
However, when my daughter was that age not to long ago , I watched her like a hawk keeping her safe which was my job.
I think the camp personal really should have been up all night and could have got them out and gone on foot up hills to higher ground bc cars on the road aren’t an option.
Going forward like I said all flash flood alerts need to be taken seriously and plans need to be canceled and if already there , they need a plan in place. This was prob a case of it will pass and not be bad. It’s unfortunate but moving forward things can be done.
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No one is saying we need less, but dotes that blamed this on budget cuts are just believing false info from their echo chambers, as we have pointed out many times. The NWS isnt to blame for this. You just reinforce the notion that you only regurgitate the stories from your media without looking deeper at the facts. It’s dangerous too, since the real blame looks like it’s on the county. How can we fix that if people have the wrong culprit?
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I don’t blame cuts for disasters. The point is we know disasters will happen and natural ones seem to be hitting more frequently. That tells me we need more, not less emergency response
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I’ve seen that being reported too. NWS probably needs to issue watches, warnings, and emergency alerts at an accelerated schedule especially for those places that are known dangerous flash flood areas.
How county actions those watches, warnings, and emergency alerts is another
thing.
Time Line
At 1:18 p.m., the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio issued a flood watch, saying “local heavy rainfall could cause flash flooding.” At 2:35 p.m. the flood watch was announced on X
Notice first WATCH issued and the 1 hour and 17 minute delay
At 6:10 p.m., the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center issued an assessment for Texas Hill Country about “heavy rainfall,” mentioning “flash flooding likely.”
At 11:41 p.m., the National Weather Service office in Austin/San Antonio posted a flash flood warning.
At 11:42 p.m., the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio posted on X upgrading its flood watch to a flood warning for part of the impacted area. In a post from 1:14 a.m. on Friday, that area was expanded.
Note the first WARNING 18 minutes before midnight.
Then, at 4:15 a.m. the National Weather Service San Angelo posted on X that there was a flash flood emergency. The Austin/San Antonio office posted on its X account about the emergency at 4:23 a.m. This type of alert is “exceedingly rare” and used when there is a “severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage,”
Note 4:15 am first EMERGENCY warning; it’s too late at this point to take action by many, imho
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Don’t many of these camps significantly limit use of technology?
I never attended summer camps, so I wouldn’t know.
That’s been reported too, but I think (hope) that only applies to camp participants
and not management. Surely they have to be plugged in to society to deal with
normal things as kids getting sick, breaking a bone, etc. Camp Mystic management certainly seems to be negligent here in waiting too long to act.
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It’s usual just participants, there’s usually some firm of communications for the adults for emergency purposes. At the very least radios is the standard.
But also nice job on the timeline, the emergency spot is when sirens should be going off.
Watches: prep and keep and eye on things
Warnings: Calmly gather and get to a better spot (this is where the mystic director failed)
Emergency: Haul butt to anywhere better. But you’re in real trouble at this point
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I don’t disagree with anything here.
However (and given this type of event has taken place in some time), you have consider that this all occurred at 3-4AM.
Thinking on the spot during the middle of the night, with danger occurring at rapid speed will probably lend to mistakes / bad decisions
There’s also that lingering thought of hoping things don’t get extremely dire
This is definitely going to change things moving forward though, I hope
I think the important part in your strength here is the life threatening emergency happened at that time. The warning was several hours earlier and we’ve unheeded as that is plenty of time to move the most at risk groups riverside out of those cabins.
I always allow for scale leeway because sometimes in these cases of things are done right it’s too big to really get away from. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, as much as warnings weren’t heeded.
This is the root of the problem. And bad cell service or whatever just doesn’t fly - if you’re responsible for people staying on the river, then you have to ensure access to something that keeps you alerted to river and weather warnings.
Yeah, it would have been better for everyone along the river if there was a siren warning system in place, but as far as the camps and RV parks go, those that were managed by people with a “better safe than sorry” approach got all of their guests to safety. Those who were run by people who didn’t think it would get that bad or that they would have more time didn’t fare as well.
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So the county had plenty of money to do something at least 3 years ago, but……
SMH
https://www.chron.com/news/article/kerr-county-flood-funds-20766069.php
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Well that’s certainly makes it harder to feel sympathy for the residents of Kerr county. Note I said the residents.
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This is a situation where the leaders have to be the adults in the room instead of letting the loudest knuckleheads take them in the wrong direction.
I think they did eventually spend the money on upgrading communications systems for police, fire, etc. So they can stay in touch better while looking for bodies.
Sad. Mentions at Big 12 media days the flood was a topic.
The cuts absolutely resulted in the San Antonio NWS office losing its longtime Warning Coordination Meteorologist, who took the early retirement incentive that this administration used to cut expenses. That’s a critical, critical role, and it’s vacant. Everyone’s saying the NWS got the warnings right, but the messages weren’t received.
If the Warning Coordinator was there doing his job, he would use his long time relationships to be sure the NWS warnings were received and acted on.
Here’s the job description:
A Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) at the National Weather Service (NWS) serves as the primary interface between the NWS forecast office and the public, emergency managers, and other users of weather information. They are responsible for developing and implementing public awareness programs to mitigate the impact of severe weather events.
Key Responsibilities of a WCM:
- Liaison with Emergency Managers:
The WCM acts as a key point of contact for emergency managers, providing them with the information they need to prepare for and respond to weather emergencies.
- Coordination of Warning Dissemination:
The WCM helps ensure that weather warnings are effectively disseminated to the public through various channels.
- Severe Weather Planning:
They participate in the planning and preparation for severe weather events, including developing strategies to minimize potential damage and loss of life.
- Media Relations:
The WCM often serves as the spokesperson for the NWS office during severe weather events, communicating information to the media and the public.
Oh, guess what… we don’t have one for the Houston region either:
Oopsies, maybe we should have had one of them Warning Coordinators…
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