00:05This is the 10 AM briefing from the Kerr County Response Management for
00:10the flood disaster.
00:12First up today we have Sheriff Larry Letha.
00:22All ready?
00:25Once again, Larry Letha, Kerr County Sheriff.
00:27Again, thank you all for covering this.
00:29We're helping us get the message out.
00:31I'll start first and then our city manager will go next and
00:34give you some information and then we'll finish with our mayor.
00:41Okay, what I'm here to do, like I said,
00:42is give you all the most current update information.
00:44Please bear in mind these numbers will continue to change as I'm walking in the
00:48door and getting texts.
00:49It's gonna be like yesterday.
00:51I think these numbers will continue to change and increase as time goes on.
00:55But like I said, we'll do a good job, we'll keep you updated.
00:58Search and rescue operations continue with a full response from local,
01:01state and national first responders.
01:03At present, there's over 400 first responders from more than 20 agencies that
01:08are working in Kerr County.
01:10We have more than a dozen canine working in and near the river.
01:15More than 100 air, water and ground vehicles are in the field right now working on this search and rescue.
01:21As of 9 AM this morning, we recorded 59 deceased in Kerr County.
01:26Among those who are deceased, we have 38 adults and 21 children.
01:3218 adults pending identification and four children are also pending identification.
01:37At present, there are 11 Camp Mystic campers unaccounted for, along with one counselor.
01:43We extend our sincerest condolences and prayers for every single family affected by this tragedy.
01:53And we continue to work around the clock and reunite these families.
01:57We will continue to search our search efforts until everybody is found.
02:01Our missing person call center is open and those reporting missing loved ones can call the number 830-258-1111.
02:13I'll repeat one more time, 830-258-1111.
02:20Please follow the Kerr County Sheriff's Office at City or Kerrville Facebook for your latest information.
02:25At this time, I'll turn it over to our city manager, Dalton Rice.
02:32Thank you, Sheriff.
02:33Thank you all for being here today.
02:36Everyone in the community is hurting.
02:38And we know many of you are locals or have some local connections here.
02:43So please keep everybody in your thoughts as we continue to navigate this very challenging time for our community.
02:49Search operations continue.
02:51Starting about 0600 this morning, we started putting boots on the ground.
02:55We have increased our number of personnel that are navigating the really challenging shores along the bank line.
03:03But we are continuing to make progress from west to east as we continue operations.
03:11What we really need from y'all is to really help us get the word out.
03:14We know that people want to volunteer.
03:17But what we're starting to see is we're starting to see personal drones that are flying.
03:21With these personal drones that are flying, that is a danger to aircraft, which risks further operations.
03:27So if you could, please pass the communication along that we need to keep these personal drones out of the sky.
03:34When we have drones and assets flying, we want to continue to do that.
03:38For volunteers and donations, we do have a phone number, 830-465-4794.
03:47We can give you that number after, but if you want to volunteer, if you have donations, please contact that number and they will help get everything out.
03:57We have families who need to be reunited and we are continuously making effort to make sure that our families are reunited.
04:04We want to continue to work together with our community.
04:06We appreciate everybody here and we want to make sure that we stay occur united.
04:14We're going to let the mayor wants to say a few words and then I will take a couple questions after the mayor.
04:24Again, thank you for being here.
04:28You know, I'm old enough to remember Fred Rogers.
04:30And he one time said during a crisis, look for the helpers.
04:37You will always find people who are helping.
04:41In Kerrville, those helpers are the city staff, county personnel, state agencies, and federal agencies.
04:52The entire Kerrville City Council is on site today.
04:56We're doing everything we can.
04:57Let me repeat something I said yesterday.
05:03In our Emergency Operations Center, it's not a bunch of different teams.
05:09It's one of them.
05:12Our goal is to rescue those in peril and find those who are lost.
05:18If you're interested in donating to help those families who've been affected,
05:28you can visit the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.
05:32They've set up a portal for donations.
05:35I understand our community, our state, and the world have been responding.
05:44Kerrville's branch of the Salvation Army has been designated as our official partner
05:50for volunteer coordination and in-kind donation.
05:53They can be reached at a number very similar to what you just heard, 830-465-4797.
06:03Also, we have a website for volunteers to register, a different website, that's tcr.communityos.org.
06:16It's important to follow the City of Kerrville's Facebook page for updates.
06:22If you follow social media and are interested in such things, I may be too old to tell you this,
06:31but there is a hashtag.
06:32It's hashtag Kerr United.
06:37That's what we are.
06:38We're united to help those who are grieving and to find those who are lost.
06:45And now we'll open up to questions.
06:47I cannot answer operational questions, but I'm going to ask the city manager to come back.
06:52I'm not sure you can answer this, but we just talked with business owners who are very concerned,
06:57not only for themselves, but also for employees, about how are they going to pay their mortgage,
07:02how are they going to pay their electricity.
07:03They've been having people reach out to them about their bills, and they're terrified that in the
07:08middle of all this, they're going to get cut off or anything.
07:11We are working through everything right now.
07:13Currently, our biggest focus is to making sure that we get families reunited with their loved ones.
07:17And so we are not going to stop until we're able to get those families reunited.
07:22This is a question for both you and the sheriff.
07:24There appears to be a massive operation now in Centerpoint.
07:29Is that where we're seeing bodies recovered at this moment?
07:33We are seeing bodies recovered all over, up and down.
07:36So as we make our way east to west, we have the entire pretty much span of operations.
07:41We broke it down into grids so we can recover those bodies.
07:44So yes, it is a full operation.
07:46None as of this morning.
07:49One more question.
07:50One of the questions that still hasn't been answered three days into this
07:54is despite TEM's warning on July 2nd, July 3rd,
07:59that something like this could have happened, that the threat existed,
08:01why that information didn't get down to camps and why they weren't evacuated.
08:05Can you answer that now?
08:07That is a great question.
08:07But again, we want to make sure that we continue to focus.
08:10We still have 11 missing children that we want to get reunited with our families.
08:13Until we can get reunited with our families, we are not going to stop until we do.
