Fema -records obtained by NBC Dallas-Fort Worths NBC 5 investigates Team shows that Kerr County officials did not use the integrated public warning system from FEMA to send warnings with safety instructions to all mobile phones in the affected area during critical hours when the floods started on July 4.
Researchers who have studied the warning system for mobile phones NBC 5 investigates That Policy on how and when to issue critical warnings varies greatly from one province to the other, so that delays may risk when seconds count.
As the search for the missing continues in Kerr County, records rated by NBC 5 investigates Ask new questions about whether local officials could have used the wireless emergency alarm system of the nation to better warn people on the path of the flood.
Together with our partners at NBC Newswe have sent a FEMA archive of reports of mobile phones sent via FEMAs integrated public alert and warning system, or IPS.
Ipaws is a system that many local provinces, including Kerr County, are authorized to use to give warnings to all mobile phones in a designated area. It is the same system that is used to send amber warnings.
Louis Kocurek
Louis Kocurek A photo taken by Louis Kocurek on July 4, 2025, shows the road cut off after flooding in his Kerr County district.
The FEMA -Occupation Archives shows that when the water started to rise in Kerr County on July 4, the National Weather Service already sent an IPAWS flood warning to mobile phones in 1:14 am
However, predictors of the weather service cannot give instructions to evacuate or wait for salvation; Those messages are to the province or city officials.
The FEMA archive showed that Kerr County did not send any wireless reports via Ipaws on July 4, when the floods started.
Some families said they received an encrypted alert from Kerr County, which is comparable to an IPAWs message. But coded only reaches people who have registered for reports.
NBC 5 News
NBC 5 News A screenshot of a code red message received by Leslie and Louis Kocurek.
“Most people I spoke with did not even know what was coded,” said Louis Kocurek, resident of Kerr County.
Louis and Leslie Kocurek shared a screenshot of a shipping from Kerr County shipping that they received, and said that major floods continued. However, the Kocureks said that the message only reached their phones after 10 a.m.
By that time, a flood meter in Kerr County showed that the river had already risen about 30 feet, and the Kocurks had taken a photo showing that roads in their neighborhood had already been cut off.
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NBC 5 News Louis Kocurek, left, and his wife Leslie, right.
“I am angry because, you know, as I told another lady, how many lives we have to lose to repair the system? It is broken,” said Leslie Kocurek.
Kerr County has used the wider IPAWS system to warn in the past of floods. Last year, on July 23, the archive demonstrated that the county sent an Ipaws -Alert stating that the Guadalupe River was expected to rise an extra 4 feet, “people said to” avoid the river “and” activa to higher terrain “.
So why not county ipaws alert for the flood this time?
NBC 5 investigates Reached for Kerr County judge Rob Kelly and coordinator for emergency management William Thomas, but they did not respond immediately to questions.
During a press conference last week, Kelly was asked why children’s camps along the river were not evacuated.
“I can’t answer that, I don’t know,” said Kelly, adding that they never expected water to rise so quickly.
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NBC 5 News Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, left, and mayor Joe Herring JR, right in Kerrville.
“We didn’t know that this flood would come. Rest assured, nobody knew that this kind of flood was coming,” said Kelly.
Researchers who have studied the IPAWS system NBC 5 investigates That communities sometimes struggle throughout the country to decide when they have to issue mobile phone warnings, which should issue those reports and what the messages should say. The fight comes, they said, partly due to a lack of standardized national policy.
“There is no required training. There is currently no certification process within IPAWS,” said Jeannette Sutton, an emergency alarm researcher who explained that it is up to every local government to write his own policy. That methodology, she said, has created differences in how effectively the system is used in every community.
“We need a lot of training and we need the means to help people be trained,” Sutton said.
The Sutton team at the University of Albany recently helped FEMA to develop a tool for local emergency managers to use more effective messages before Ramp State allows.
NBC 5 News
NBC 5 News Jeanette Sutton
“They are generally confronted with an empty text box that says: ‘Insert here’. And you can imagine that in a situation where there is a lot of stress and uncertainty, that writing a message is all over again,” Sutton said.
In a statement to NBC 5, FEMA said his iPaws office “…. courages and supports and practice …” and said that the Bureau makes training tools available “… public safety officials to get trust with the help of Ipaws.”
“It is really important to get it right when the lives of people is at stake,” said Sutton.
Sutton said that reports of mobile phones can be crucial, especially in places such as Kerr County, that does not have a warning system for siren.
But she said that provinces should also strengthen reports with the help of tools such as social media or even on doors, because mobile telephone service is sometimes spotty in rural areas.
On the morning of the floods of July 4, the Sheriff’s Department of Kerr County used its Facebook account, where messages warned around 5:30 am and encouraged people to “move to higher ground”. Those messages could have achieved social media users who happen to be awake and watch Facebook, but they would not sound alert on a phone like an Ipaws message.
NBC 5 News
NBC 5 News Search and rescue efforts after deadly floods in Texas on July 4.
During a press conference on Wednesday, the sheriff said that the province would investigate whether evacuation assignments should have been issued.
“Sometimes evacuation is not the safest. Sometimes it is better to protect in place,” said Seriff Larry Leitha.
The Sheriff also promised to investigate why reports of mobile phones did not take place before.
“Those are important questions. Those are, we will answer those questions,” said Leitha.
Questions with answers that other communities can help make the next disaster.
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