At a Wednesday morning press conference, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha declined to answer a question about delayed emergency alerts, saying that an "after-action" would follow the search and rescue efforts. "Those questions are gonna be answered," he added.

While Kerr County officials say they didn't know how bad the July 4 flooding would be, it warned residents nearly eight years ago to "be flood aware" about the ongoing potential for "monstrous and devastating flash floods.