Texas county commissioners previously suggested "river calling," an informal phone chain used by summer camps, would be better than installing new flood sirens.

Kerr County, where dozens of people—many of them children—died in this weekend's catastrophic flooding, knew flash floods were a danger in the area—but its application for a grant to improve its flood warning system was rejected by the Texas Division of Emergency Management in both 2017 and 2018,

In a social media post Monday, the Austin Firefighters Association blasted Fire Chief Joel Baker for waiting to send local firefighters to Kerr County to help with flood response.