Texas officials begin state investigation into July 4 flood disaster

“We need to find out what happened. We need to know for us to go forward and make sure that we prevent the loss of life on the scale,” said José Menéndez, a Democrat state senator.

Austin, Texas (CNN) — The critical minutes and hours when deadly flash floods hurtled down the Guadalupe River washing away children’s camps and RVs will be scrutinized starting Wednesday at a special hearing in Texas. There’s already a split emerging about exactly what should be prioritized: the efficiency of those who tried to save lives once the water arrived or whether more should have been done before the storm.

“We need to find out what happened. We need to know for us to go forward and make sure that we prevent the loss of life on the scale,” said José Menéndez, a Democrat state senator, who will be on the joint select committee on disaster preparedness and flooding.

His Republican colleague on the committee, Wes Virdell, who is the state representative for Kerr county, the area hardest hit, urged more caution in a separate interview with CNN.

“Government’s natural inclination is to overreact, and so I want to make sure that we don’t have that happening,” Virdell said.

At least 135 people were killed in Texas during the historic July 4 flooding, more than 100 of them in Kerr County where children’s camps and RV parks sat on the banks of the Guadalupe. The area lies in the heart of “Flash Flood Alley,” but Kerr County has no network of sirens along the river to alert both residents and visitors when they should get to higher ground.

Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation for a special legislative session that began Monday to address flood warning systems, emergency communications, and relief funding for victims — as well as other issues that are more political in nature including redistricting.

Wednesday’s hearing will include testimony from officials in charge of managing the rivers throughout Flash Flood Alley, as well as Chief Nim Kidd, head of the state’s Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), and members of the Department of Public Safety, the state’s police force. The agenda indicates lawmakers will seek information on disaster preparedness and response, flood planning and first responder communications.

Members of the joint select committee have not received any briefing materials or confidential information in advance of the meeting in Austin, CNN has learned.

A rare confluence of events contributed to the disaster — a summer’s worth of rain landing on drought-dried soil, the area’s geography gathering the water in the river until it could break its banks near the town of Hunt, a community that is often saturated with weather alerts and the worst happening in the middle of the night before the July 4 holiday and many people in the affected zones not having access to phones or cell service.

“You talk to the locals, and they don’t feel like there was anything more that could have been done at that point,” said Virdell, who arrived in Kerr County the morning of the floods and stayed for 10 days. “That’s not saying every local, but (it) seems to be the general consensus.”

Virdell first went to check on the coordination of emergency operations. “TDEM and all the agencies that came in — Texas Parks and Wildlife, DPS, National Guard — all of those guys worked very well together. It was impressive to watch, and the local officials with them.”

He said his constituents recognized the unparalleled nature of the event. “Outside of Kerr you see several people trying to point fingers and what not. You go talk to the people that live there, and they’re not blaming people.”

But Menéndez is concerned that more could have been done, especially with the children’s camps on the river where youngsters slept in cabins with counselors.

“We cannot just say it was a freak of nature. Yes, it was. But can we do a better job? I believe we can,” he said.

“I think they needed to have better preparation, especially when you have children who are being supervised by just a little bit older children, maybe young adults. That’s a dangerous situation. You need to have ultimate preparation,” he said, adding he wanted more clarity on the emergency operations process in Kerr and neighboring counties.

“If you have nothing to fear, you should have nothing to hide. If you really did the best you can, then come out and say it. People deserve to have honest answers, no matter how painful they may be.”

Controversially, Texas Republicans have signaled they will first use this special legislative session to force a vote on aggressive redistricting maps pushed by the White House that could give the GOP five more seats in the US House of Representatives. The move will likely hamper state Democrats’ efforts to block the new maps, because they won’t want to disrupt the session before there is a vote to approve the flood relief.

Still, there was no talk of making Wednesday’s first hearing purely political theater.

“(There’s) a lot to learn, a lot to study, not a witch hunt,” Menéndez said. “But I do want, ultimately — if there was someone that could have done a better job — them to answer why they didn’t.”

“The truth of what happened in that 24 hours that led up to this destruction and this death and tragic occurrence will come out,” the state senator continued. “So why not come out and let’s talk about it as adults so we can find a solution?”

Virdell said he would also be ready to learn. “Weathermen have been getting the weather wrong for a long time, and I think that’s going to continue on,” he said. “The purpose of the committee is to figure out is there something different we can be doing?”

The committee will reconvene the following week in Kerrville, Texas — the epicenter of some of the worst flooding, where both members said they are looking forward to hearing directly from flood victims.

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