Two top leaders of a rural Texas county were asleep and a third was out of town in the early hours of the catastrophic flood that devastated the region, leaving a long wave of destruction in its wake that killed more than 130 people in early July.

On Thursday, both the Kerr County sheriff and his emergency management director acknowledged at a legislative hearing that they were asleep at the bit when the storm and subsequent flooding were coming. Additionally, Kerr County Sheriff Judge Rob Kelly was out of town for the Fourth of July celebrations when the tragedy occurred.

His testimony, presented during a joint House and Senate panel visit to the Texas mountain region, was the first public account of what happened to these local authorities, who were charged with preparing the emergency plan for the people of Kerr and coordinating emergency personnel to rescue those affected.

Furthermore, his statements revealed a lack of leadership at the very moment in which authorities needed to react to minimize the tragedy and get the population to safety. Instead, 136 people died, including 27 young women and counselors at a Christian girls' camp.

What did local officials say about his absence?

William 'Dub' Thomas, Kerr County's emergency management coordinator, said he was sick the day before the floods and therefore missed two calls from Texas Emergency Management officials. For his part, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha, like Thomas, acknowledged he was asleep as the crisis unfolded.

In Kelly's case, the county's chief executive, he reported that he was at Lake Travis, outside the city about 100 miles away, and woke up around 5:30 am.

Their testimony visibly upset Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who rebuked them during the hearing: "I'm not pointing fingers at you. I'm not blaming you. I just want to set the record straight," he said, prompting applause from the audience. “Everyone was here that day working really hard, and you were nowhere to be seen,” he lamented.

Thomas explained that on the morning of the tragedy, his wife first woke him up around 5:30 a.m., about two hours after the rescue operations began, and he quickly headed to the sheriff’s office.

“There was no visible flooding when I arrived at the office, but it quickly became apparent that the situation was getting worse,” he said.

Local workers call for improved emergency system

For their part, local officials said that needed improvements to their warning system, as the intensity of the rain swept away homes and vehicles in its path and left dozens of families crying for help on their roofs.

Hundreds of people affected by the rains also testified, calling for urgent improvements to the flood warning and mitigation systems.

Kelly acknowledged that residents received virtually no warning of the impending disaster until it was too late. We need stronger communications and better broadband so we can communicate better, he said, adding that poor cell phone reception did not help people on the riverbanks. What we experienced on July 4th was sudden, violent, and overwhelming.

Sheriff presents timeline of tragedy

During his testimony, Leitha presented a timeline of the tragedy and stated that emergency services became aware of the situation that required everyone™s intervention at 3:30 a.m., when they received a call from a family trapped on the roof requesting air evacuation. However, he acknowledged that he wasn't alerted until about an hour later, around 4:20 a.m. Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, asked Leitha if the county should have a protocol in place for when three of the county's top officials are unavailable during an emergency. "Yes, ma'am, we can review it thoroughly," Leitha said. "Yes, I can review it and maybe they'll call me before then."he said, prompting applause from the audience. “Everyone was here that day working really hard, and you were nowhere to be seen,” he lamented.

Thomas explained that on the morning of the tragedy, his wife first woke him up around 5:30 a.m., about two hours after the rescue operations began, and he quickly headed to the sheriff’s office.

“There was no visible flooding when I arrived at the office, but it quickly became apparent that the situation was getting worse,” he said.

Local workers call for improved emergency system

For their part, local officials said that needed improvements to their warning system, as the intensity of the rain swept away homes and vehicles in its path and left dozens of families crying for help on their roofs.

Hundreds of people affected by the rains also testified, calling for urgent improvements to the flood warning and mitigation systems.

Kelly acknowledged that residents received virtually no warning of the impending disaster until it was too late. We need stronger communications and better broadband so we can communicate better, he said, adding that poor cell phone reception did not help people on the riverbanks. What we experienced on July 4th was sudden, violent, and overwhelming.

Sheriff presents timeline of tragedy

During his testimony, Leitha presented a timeline of the tragedy and stated that emergency services became aware of the situation that required everyone™s intervention at 3:30 a.m., when they received a call from a family trapped on the roof requesting air evacuation. However, he acknowledged that he wasn't alerted until about an hour later, around 4:20 a.m. Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, asked Leitha if the county should have a protocol in place for when three of the county's top officials are unavailable during an emergency. "Yes, ma'am, we can review it thoroughly," Leitha said. "Yes, I can review it and maybe they'll call me before then."he said, prompting applause from the audience. “Everyone was here that day working really hard, and you were nowhere to be seen,” he lamented.

Thomas explained that on the morning of the tragedy, his wife first woke him up around 5:30 a.m., about two hours after the rescue operations began, and he quickly headed to the sheriff’s office.

“There was no visible flooding when I arrived at the office, but it quickly became apparent that the situation was getting worse,” he said.

Local workers call for improved emergency system

For their part, local officials said that needed improvements to their warning system, as the intensity of the rain swept away homes and vehicles in its path and left dozens of families crying for help on their roofs.

Hundreds of people affected by the rains also testified, calling for urgent improvements to the flood warning and mitigation systems.

Kelly acknowledged that residents received virtually no warning of the impending disaster until it was too late. We need stronger communications and better broadband so we can communicate better, he said, adding that poor cell phone reception did not help people on the riverbanks. What we experienced on July 4th was sudden, violent, and overwhelming.

Sheriff presents timeline of tragedy

During his testimony, Leitha presented a timeline of the tragedy and stated that emergency services became aware of the situation that required everyone™s intervention at 3:30 a.m., when they received a call from a family trapped on the roof requesting air evacuation. However, he acknowledged that he wasn't alerted until about an hour later, around 4:20 a.m. Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, asked Leitha if the county should have a protocol in place for when three of the county's top officials are unavailable during an emergency. "Yes, ma'am, we can review it thoroughly," Leitha said. "Yes, I can review it and maybe they'll call me before then."But it quickly became apparent that the situation was getting worse, he said.

Local workers call for improved emergency system

Local officials, meanwhile, said they needed improvements to their warning system as the intensity of the rain swept away homes and vehicles and left dozens of families crying for help on their rooftops.