More than 400 911 calls made during the catastrophic floods in Kerr County, Texas, on July Fourth last year have been released, revealing frantic pleas for help and tragic outcomes. The recordings, made public on Friday, capture the desperation of families trapped on rooftops, mothers panicked for their children, and people clinging to trees as floodwaters rose rapidly.
Among the calls was a man stuck in a tree that was breaking under the pressure, asking for a helicopter rescue that never came. Another call came from a camp counselor at Camp La Junta, who told a dispatcher: “There’s water filling up super fast, we can’t get out of our cabin.” All campers at that site were rescued, but 25 campers and two teenage counselors died at Camp Mystic, a nearby girls' summer camp.
The flooding killed at least 136 people statewide, including 117 in Kerr County alone. Victims came from Texas, Alabama, California and Florida. Many residents said they received no warning when the Guadalupe River overtopped its banks. Kerr County leaders have faced scrutiny, with two officials admitting they were asleep during the initial hours of the flooding.
Some calls came from people who did not survive. Bradley Perry, a firefighter, calmly told a dispatcher that the tree he was in was leaning and asked if a helicopter was close. He did not survive, but his wife was later found alive in a tree. In another call, a woman in a riverside cabin said water was inundating the building, with faint voices of children in the background.
Kerrville Police Chief Chris McCall warned that the audio is unsettling. The Associated Press, among media outlets that requested the recordings, compiled a chronology of the chaotic rescue effort using the calls, weather service warnings, survivor videos and official testimony.
