FEMA records show Kerr County officials did not use FEMA’s system to send warnings to phones in the critical hours as the flooding began on July 4.

"The first lady and I are here in Texas to express the love and support and the anguish of our entire nation in the aftermath of this really horrific and deadly flood," Trump said as he spoke at a roundtable event with first responders and local officials.

In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.

Recordings provided to CBS News showed first responders asking for an emergency alert to be sent, but dispatchers delayed because they needed special authorization.

New audio reveals what Kerr County first responders were hearing and acting on during the critical first few hours of the devastating floods. | Click to listen

The reporter said that several families were angry because they felt that alerts for the flood did not go out in time.

A stretch of chain-link fence along the Guadalupe River in the Texas town of Kerrville has become a focal point for the community's grief.