- As the search for flood victims continues, there are many questions about why a place known as Flash Flood Alley wasn't better prepared.

We'll talk with an outspoken city council member from the town of Ingram.

That and more on the flood.

"Austin InSight" starts right now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from: Sally and James Gavin.

And also from: Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(soft plaintive music) (soft plaintive music continues) - Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

For years, it's been known as Flash Flood Alley.

So why was a place informally named after its significant disaster risk not better prepared for the devastating and deadly July 4th flood?

We'll talk to a reporter who is looking into that very question in a moment.

But, first, we've had more flooding in more places since July 4th.

About two hours northeast of Kerr County, heavy rains over the past weekend sent the Lampasas River rising to 30 feet, far above flood stage.

- I've lived here for 40 years, and I have never seen nothing this bad.

Not ever.

- A new flood watch was in effect early this week for a large section of Central Texas, including areas hard hit on July 4th.

Six to 10 inches of additional rain fell, causing a pause in search and recovery efforts in Kerrville.

(water rushes) On Lake Buchanan, the Lower Colorado River Authority opened floodgates to manage the massive amounts of rainwater filling up the highland lakes.

Other floodgates also are being opened as the LCRA manages what they call a dynamic situation.

Here in Travis County, in the Big Sandy Creek area, a temporary low-water crossing is now open after the flood damaged a bridge that normally is the only way in and out of that neighborhood.

More now from Senior Multimedia Journalist Blair Waltman-Alexin.

- One tough battery.

- [Blair] Kevin Basey's trailer might still have lights, but the walls are gone.

He had to kick them out to escape the July 5th floods.

- I had to kick through the bathroom area, jump down, and it was still about calf high.

There was already about a six-foot-high wall of debris.

(excavator clanks) - [Blair] Basey is just one of the residents who have been impacted by the July 5th flooding in Leander in northern Travis County.

Officials say nine people have died and three are still missing.

Homes and cars have been destroyed, and debris severely damaged the nearby RM 1431 Bridge, moving it downstream about six inches.

- I visited the Big Sandy Creek Bridge and was astonished at what I saw.

The center part of the bridge was literally moved about a half a foot in one direction, which shows the power of the water that was pushing through there.

(car hums) - [Blair] A temporary bridge has been opened up by Travis County officials, allowing for cleanup efforts to begin in the Big Sandy Creek neighborhood.

(broom bristles) But some residents remain unsure of where to start.

- And I still don't know how these houses are going to be removed from my property.

I don't know.

Two different houses were uprooted from their foundations and floated across the road and crashed into mine.

- [Blair] Robin Bates was aware of the flood risk but had never seen the waters get this high.

- The floodplain was actually up to our driveway, and that's as far as it ever went.

And of course the water went much higher than that.

I have no insurance, but thankfully my house was paid off.

- Love you too!

- [Blair] She's also thankful for the generosity of neighbors and volunteers.

- These wonderful volunteers that are just out here out of the kindness of their heart, helping to clear out the debris along the creek and all of that.

It's in process, it's just going to take time.

- Next to Big Sandy Creek in the Leander area, 11 people are confirmed dead or missing from the flash flooding.

The Mayor of Leander, Christine DeLisle, joins us now.

Mayor DeLisle, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us.

- Thank you for covering Leander.

- So first, mayor, I want to get you to paint a picture of the full extent of the damage in your city and area.

Do you have the data yet on the number of homes and the businesses impacted?

- So it's an interesting area.

The City of Leander spans two counties, and there are areas that are just outside of the city limits, but we assist in them.

And so to our north, I'm not sure on the businesses.

I know that there were three fatalities.

I'm not sure of the damages of the houses, but I know that there's some.

Over on the Travis County side, which is where Sandy Creek is, there are about 80 houses that are destroyed.

There are more that are damaged, and there's still recovery operations going on there.

It's a very difficult scene.

- Absolutely.

And 80 homes, that's 80 families displaced.

It's hard to stomach.

It's more than just a number.

We know that 11 have died or are still missing in the Leander area from the flooding, including two teenagers.

The community is grieving like so many across Central Texas.

And you recently spoke at a vigil.

How are you seeing the community come together right now?

- The coming-together part has been wonderful.

There's such an outpouring from the community of volunteers and donations and just caring.

The grieving: what do you do with that, you know?

And that's the really hard part.

I think that's gonna take longer.

- Like you mentioned, Leander straddles Williamson and Travis counties.

What concerns do you have so far about the response from both counties or others?

- Sure.

So both counties have been different in their approach.

We work with both of them all the time.

All the cities and counties around here have mutual aid agreements.

So like with Big Sandy, our guys are in there all the time because of the proximity.

So we're always backing up as needed.

It's been interesting, though, because a lot of the people in Big Sandy, they are more ingrained in the community in Williamson County than in Travis because they're very much out on the outskirts.

And I think that's been difficult.

I think that on our end we know a little more about the community than Travis County officials do.

And so the last few days have been great collaborating and finding resources.

But I think that that's been a difficulty is figuring out the coordination between the two counties.

There's different challenges that come up as well: issues with radio communications when you cross a county line and just how we all coordinate.

- So many challenges still ahead, I know in your area and across Central Texas, and so much to be done to bring your city and all the other areas back from this devastating flooding.

Thank you so much, Mayor DeLisle, for helping us understand the impact on Leander.

- Thank you.

(soft plaintive music) (soft plaintive music continues) Meanwhile, search efforts in the heart of the 4th of July flood zone continue after rain delays and additional flood damage last weekend.

More than 130 people are confirmed dead while more than 100 are still missing.

Earlier this week, the Kerrville City Council extended its disaster declaration with no end in sight.

- It does extend the disaster declaration that the mayor issued initially on July 4th.

The duration this time is: it extends until he terminates it.

So, in other words, it's for an indefinite period of time.

- In the aftermath of the flood and considering the large death toll, survivors, families, community leaders, and journalists are all asking: how could this happen?

Pointed questions are coming from reporters at recent media briefings in Kerrville.

- [Reporter] Mr. Mayor, records show that the concept of flood warnings have been discussed at least two dozen times by the county.

What's the biggest reason that these systems have not gone into place at this point?

- [Reporter] All due respect, sir, I think that the community here is asking these questions.

What happened?

When did it happen?

Was the emergency manager awake at the time?

Did they push the button to issue an emergency alert?

- One area of focus is Kerr County's efforts over the past eight years to secure funding to modernize its flood warning system, efforts that clearly failed.

Houston Chronicle reporter Neena Satija has been digging into state and county records to find out why.

She joins us now.

Neena, thank you so much for being with us.

- Thanks for having me.

- So we'll get more into the details in a moment, but, first, why are you seeing that this new system was never funded despite several attempts?

- As far as we can tell, Kerr County tried at least three separate times to get funding for this system, along with the local river authority.

First couple of times they were denied when they asked for federal funding but they needed state officials to sign off.

The third time, the state actually said, "Sure, we'll give you a 5% match and a 0%-interest loan."

And they decided that that still wasn't favorable enough terms for them in order to move forward with the project, which would've cost about a million dollars.

So really they've been struggling for funding.

Now, there's a question as: could they have found funding from other sources?

We're still doing reporting to try to figure that out.

- And for a little more context, this effort started after the 2015 Memorial Day flood in Wimberley, which was a serious wake-up call.

What happened there and what led us to here?

- That's right.

So in Wimberley in 2015: felt like a similar situation in a lot of ways.

I believe the Blanco River rose dozens of feet, maybe 40, 45 feet in just an hour.

13 people died, lots of houses, homes, businesses swept away.

And everyone said: "We need an early warning system."

So Kerr County started to talk about it at that time.

What's interesting is they had actually done a flood warning system back in 1989.

This was two years after they had another devastating flood where 10 campers actually died when they were trying to evacuate the camps.

So it wasn't the first rodeo for Kerr County, but I think it had been kind of forgotten about.

And so they felt like, after this Wimberley disaster, they should go back and try to do another flood warning system.

Of course they were not successful in getting that done.

- And another question is: why does it always have to wait until a terrible tragedy to warrant these conversations?

What do the experts you've spoken with say about whether a better system in place could have saved lives this time in Kerr County?

- I think a better system could have made a big difference.

I think depends on exactly how you look at it, but for sure every expert we've talked to has said that there aren't enough gauges along the Guadalupe River or its tributaries in Kerr County.

There isn't a system that takes all that information that could be collected and puts it somewhere central so the public can actually look at it.

There are other places that have this.

In Austin, you can go to a website and you can look at where low-water crossings are closed because they've been flooded.

You can't do that in Kerr County.

So I think certainly there could have been some measures taken that could have saved some lives.

Again, someone has to pay attention to those warnings, and that's another big thing that's being looked at.

But I think more data, more technology could have made a difference in this flood.

- And this has become a conversation around the state and nationally too.

The governor and the legislature seem poised to address this safety problem in a big way in this upcoming special session.

Will new warning systems, you think, come out of this?

What should we expect?

- I think it's possible, but I think we also should really watch closely and be skeptical of what our leaders are saying.

You know, how quickly can they get this done?

How effective are these warning systems gonna be?

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has talked about sirens.

What's gonna trigger those sirens?

How are we gonna tell the public what a siren means?

How are we gonna make sure people can hear them?

Some of them go off for as much as three miles.

If you're hearing a siren from three miles away, is that really gonna tell you what you need to know?

And the big question is: should people be in these incredibly flood-prone areas to begin with?

So I think the legislature seems committed to working on this problem, but I think we'll really wanna watch closely to see if they actually make a dent in it or not.

- Indeed.

And we will be watching that as well, from the National Weather Service and other federal weather science organizations, to state emergency management and response and down all the way to the local levels.

So many layers in this and all likely to see more scrutiny following this flood.

Neena, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us.

- Thank you.

(soft plaintive music) (soft plaintive music continues) One of the most outspoken local leaders in the Kerrville area is a city official from Ingram, a small town between Hunt and Kerrville.

Council Member Ray Howard joins us now.

First, Council Member Howard, I just wanna ask: how are you doing right now?

- We're doing okay.

It's just taking it one day at a time obviously and just plugging along trying to find all the people that are missing, you know, to give loved ones closure on what's going on because there's so many people still missing.

- It's unimaginable what the community has been through and will continue to go through.

And still dark days ahead.

And it's been a week since the devastation and that initial shock.

Can you describe how the community is feeling right now?

What are you seeing?

And I see your sweet dog Chancey in the background there.

- Yeah, taking him for a walk.

Well, our community is staying strong, and the amount of outpouring of love and volunteerism has been just absolutely mind-boggling.

It's been a great thing to see so many people coming forth and just donating time and effort and supplies and fuel.

I mean, it's been great.

I can't thank all the volunteers enough.

The community feels the love, and we really appreciate it all.

- It has been so incredible to see the outpouring of love from around the state.

Some much-needed hope amid this devastation.

And you said in another interview, quote, if it's the last thing you do, you will get warning sirens installed.

Why is this so important to you?

- Well, I don't wanna see this ever happen again, obviously.

It's devastating.

We're having a City Council meeting on the 21st, and I've already made sure I got put it on the agenda that we're gonna start talking about our city, which is just a little city.

We don't have a lot of funding, but it sounds like the federal government and Texas government is gonna supply the funds to get what we need.

So immediately that's the first thing I put on the agenda is to talk about getting sirens and the early warning system for Ingram.

And obviously that's all we can do for Ingram, which is only a two-square-mile little city.

Small, very small.

But it doesn't matter.

We lost a lot of people right in Ingram.

So that's what I'm doing.

My whole agenda is to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

- And your passion is palpable.

And we wanna note for our viewers that you have Stage IV cancer, and so your commitment has a special meaning of course.

And we just have one more question about the overall system failure that occurred here.

Do you think it's too soon to ask hard questions about what went wrong?

Talk about the difference between blame and accountability.

- Well, right now I do agree: it is a little early to talk about blame.

Accountability?

Absolutely.

There's gotta be some accountability somewhere.

I do know that the county did try to find funding through a couple different avenues, which I didn't know prior to in some of my comments.

So I'd have to step back a little bit on some of the things they did say, that, you know, why did they let the ball fall?

Well, obviously they did try to get some funding, but they didn't get it.

And, again, I think we can come up with the money somewhere.

Now we've got people that are missing, a lot of people that, you know, been found dead, obviously.

Been a whole bunch that were saved that first day and a couple days after.

But to have this fall away again and not be followed up on will be a travesty.

So I am definitely gonna be a thorn in the side in the county, and obviously I'm already doing it for our city.

I'm gonna make sure that our city is gonna get some type of system put in.

And, like I said, on the 21st we have a City Council meeting.

Anybody is welcome to come to it.

It is an open forum, so you can sit in and listen to what we're gonna say.

I do recommend as many people in our community and Ingram, please come, and outlying places if you want to come, please come.

The more we get publicity on this, I think the faster that we're gonna get a response and get things done.

So I look forward to seeing more people at our City Council meeting.

We need to have people come.

So please.

- This will certainly be a conversation that we and all of the nation will be following.

Council Member Howard, we wanna wish you the very best in your health journey, and we so appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us.

- Okay, well, thank you very much.

I appreciate y'all covering this story.

And come back.

Just don't forget us, come back three months, six months, a year from now and see how we've progressed in getting things done.

- I can promise you we will be back.

- All right, thank you.

(soft plaintive music) - Of the confirmed deaths from the floods, three of them are in Williamson County, including Sherry Richardson, a beloved staff member at Hope House in Liberty Hill.

Hope House is a home for children and adults with severe disabilities.

Richardson was swept away in her home on the Hope House property, and 13 children living in a home nearby on the property had to be evacuated by helicopter.

We have Erland Schulze with Hope House with us now to talk about this devastating situation and what's happened since.

Erland, it's unimaginable what the community is going through.

Can you walk us through what happened to Sherry during the flood and the evacuations?

- Well, Sherry, like so many of the victims in these floods we've had here was sleeping at 3:30 in the morning and awoke to water in her house.

And she lived on the property, but it was a separate home.

It was a little further down towards the San Gabriel Creek.

And when she awoke it was just too late.

She had called 911, she had spoke to our executive director, and there was no way she could get out of the house.

And before the rescue who responded very quickly could get to her, it was too late and the house was swept away completely.

So we lost Sherry.

And I think that Sherry... We are doing what I think Sherry wants us to do, and that's to move on, to take care of our children.

She was such a wonderful addition to our team.

She came to us about three and a half years ago.

She was our HR person.

She was in the front office, and no one could get into that office without knowing about Hope House and how much she cared for those kids.

- And can you tell us: those kids had to be evacuated, and of course it's so difficult to evacuate anyone, but for children with adult and severe disabilities, you have so much more to think about, like medications, wheelchairs even, and just the trauma of losing Sherry.

Can you talk about the evacuations?

- Well, yes.

All of our children are profoundly disabled.

We care for some of the most highly mentally and physically disabled children there are here in Central Texas, and there were actually 16 children living in that home.

It was our children's home.

We had five homes, and this one was the original house built in '77.

And it was a group home where these children stayed, our younger children.

But we have four more homes in downtown Liberty Hill.

So it was about six miles out of town.

And as you mentioned, when a child is this disabled, any amount of water is going to disturb them.

They have no idea what's going to happen.

So we were not gonna take any chances.

Our staff was awake 24/7, and when they got the call, we just thanked Sherry.

She made that call.

She alerted, you know, the staff.

And when that call came, you know, those children were immediately evacuated thanks to Williamson County who responded so quickly with a Black Hawk helicopter.

And, you know, the water did not sweep that home away.

But the traumatic situation, the children not knowing what could happen and seeing any amount of water come through, just created a situation where we had to act immediately and not take any chances.

So the children were all safely evacuated to four of the other homes that we have in downtown Liberty Hill.

And that's where they remain.

We are so proud to say that those children are now back in that home.

This is thanks to hundreds of volunteers who showed up.

They stepped up and they came out, and they cleaned the mud, the silt, and all of debris off the property within a little over two weeks.

You know, our staff worked 24/7 to take care of our kids.

But those volunteers came out, and they cleaned that house up.

And yesterday there was 60 or 70 church members from San Antonio, New Braunfels, that came out and painted our house and refreshed it.

And now those kids are back home living in that house once again, thanks to so many people who helped us.

- That is so wonderful to hear.

And what a testament, not only to the community you have out there, but to the kind of work you do.

Erland Schulze with Hope House.

The work Hope House does is so important, and we will be thinking of you and sending our support during this time.

Thank you so much for speaking with us.

- Thank you for the opportunity.

(soft plaintive music) (soft plaintive music continues) (soft plaintive music continues) - With this tragedy also comes stories of hope and acts of heroism and kindness.

And here's an example that we wanted to share with you.

(cat meows) Volunteers from Austin Pets Alive!

and Kerrville Pets Alive!

have been working since the start to rescue and reunite families with their missing pets.

Since the floods, Austin Pets Alive!

has taken in about 600 animals.

A volunteer who came in from Dallas helped a woman reunite with her beloved cats, Rambo and Mo.

They'd been missing since July 4th when the flood water swept through Cindy McCarthey's trailer in Ingram and then a tree crashed into it.

- We were told two days ago that Rambo, my big kitty, was dead.

I saw a picture and it sure looked like him.

And so I was just, you know, destroyed.

And today when we were back there moving furniture and trying to get stuff out, the lady who traps from Dallas, she put a cage underneath the trailer, and when we looked, it was empty.

And then we walked around with the FEMA guy to the other side, and she was pulling a cage out with a cat in it.

And I went, "Oh my God, there's Rambo."

I'm thrilled.

I'm just so grateful.

- And we are so grateful that they're back together.

And there's more hopefulness to note.

More than $30 million have been donated to the Community Foundation in Kerrville, money already being distributed to people in need.

More than 13,000 volunteers have stepped up with food, chainsaws, and other help, including a search and rescue team from Mexico.

We'll have more on the flood response in the coming weeks.

Thanks so much for watching.

(soft plaintive music) (soft plaintive music continues) - We're getting so many calls flooding in, and 99% of 'em are amazing.

There are folks who are just like: "How can I help, what can I do?"

(soft plaintive music) (soft plaintive music continues) (soft plaintive music continues) (soft plaintive music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from: Sally and James Gavin.

And also from: Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(light playful music)