The latest: Kerr County callers pleaded for rescue, Camp Mystic staffers begged for help in 911 audio
The Kerrville Police Department said Thursday that it plans to release all of the 911 calls from the devastating July 4 flooding of the Guadalupe River in Central Texas that left dozens dead and has become one of the worst natural disasters in Texas history.
In a post on Facebook, police Chief Chris McCall said the department would not redact any of the calls and would release the recordings in their entirety in order to comply with the federal Freedom of Information Act.
“The information about to be released will be difficult for some families and those impacted by the flood to hear,” he said in a video message. “We want to caution the public that what you will hear on these calls is distressing. Some callers did not survive.”
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At least 136 people, including campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, were killed when predawn flood waters from the Guadalupe River swept through the region and left a wide swath of death and destruction.
The tragedy jump-started efforts to bring an early warning system to the flood prone Hill Country region but has also spurred several lawsuits from relatives of the survivors.
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Plans by Camp Mystic to reopen have also sparked a firestorm of anger from the parents whose children died during the natural disaster.
Camp officials have said that when their site reopens, the facility’s planning and safety procedures would comply with new regulations enacted after the disaster.
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The camp has also announced that it will build a memorial to the girls who died during the flooding.
McCall said in the social media post that eight media outlets, which he did not identify, had requested access to the 911 calls. He said those calls would be released directly to those media outlets, although it was not clear when.
It was not immediately clear how the department would handle new requests for the 911 calls from other news outlets or the public.
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