Kerr County Commissioners vote to form Flood Warning System Team

On Monday, the Kerr County Commissioners’ Court voted unanimously (5-0) to form a unified Flood Warning System Project Team and appointed Tom Moser, a former commissioner and NASA engineer, to lead it.

“This is Day 52,” said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, noting the passage of time since the devastating July 4 flood here in which 117 people lost their lives and 2 people remain missing.

“Search and rescue dominated the first weeks after the flood. Recovery has just been rumbling down the highways for us. It’s time for us to start coming up with the solutions,” he said.

“We need to do this right now,” he urged, adding that a solution needs to be in place before next summer’s visitor season, so that residents are kept safe and local river-based tourism businesses can assure their guests of a state-of-the-art flood warning system.

Judge Kelly’s motion was to form a 5-member team headed by Moser. It would also consist of one representative apiece from Kerr County, the City of Kerrville, the City of Ingram and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority. Kerr County Commissioner (Pct. 2) Rich Paces, who has a background in engineering, was nominated and agreed to be the county’s representative on the team.

“We need to get this done,” Kelly added. “These are essential things that we need to do. I’m worried about the budget, but people’s lives are more important than our budget. This has to be TOP priority on our list.”

The county judge also charged the new project team with the task of coming up with a unified plan/interlocal agreement between the four entities within a month’s time, and a goal of having a system in place within six months.