AT A GLANCE
- More than 400 emergency calls poured into Kerr County dispatch as the July 4 Hill Country floods overtook cabins, homes, and youth camps.
- At least 136 people died statewide, including 117 in Kerr County, making it one of the deadliest floods in Texas history.
- Newly released 911 recordings reveal callers trapped in attics, treetops, and rooftops, many of them children and camp staff.
- Some callers did not survive, including firefighter Bradley Perry, whose final moments were captured in a call asking for a helicopter rescue.
Hill Country Flood 911 Recordings Reveal Overwhelmed Dispatchers, Trapped Families, and Dozens Swept Away
Many of the voices were frantic and desperate. A few were steady and measured in the middle of mounting, life-threatening danger, and in some cases, an unavoidable end. The calls came from families huddled on rooftops as rising water spun beneath them, from mothers terrified for their children’s safety, and from neighbors who could hear cries for help in the dark as people clung to treetops.
One man, trapped high in a tree that was beginning to bend under the force of the floodwaters, asked dispatchers for a helicopter rescue that never came.
His was one of more than 400 calls for help across Kerr County during last summer’s devastating overnight floods on the July Fourth holiday. The recordings of the 911 calls were released Friday.
The sheer number of emergencies overwhelmed the two county emergency dispatchers working that night as catastrophic flooding swept through cabins and youth camps along the Guadalupe River.
“There’s water filling up super fast, we can’t get out of our cabin,” a camp counselor told a dispatcher, screams from campers audible in the background. “We can’t get out of our cabin, so how do we get to the boats?” Everyone in that cabin and the rest of the campers at Camp La Junta ultimately survived.
Statewide, at least 136 people died during the holiday weekend floods, including at least 117 in Kerr County. Most victims were from Texas, though some came from Alabama, California and Florida, according to a list released by county officials.
One woman called for help as water surrounded her home near Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp for girls where 25 campers and two teenage counselors died.
“We’re OK, but we live a mile down the road from Camp Mystic and we had two little girls come down the river. And we’ve gotten to them, but I’m not sure how many others are out there,” she said, her voice shaking. A spokesperson for the parents of the children and counselors who died declined to comment on the release of the recordings.
Many calls came from rooftops and treetops. Residents across the Hill Country said the floods overtopped the Guadalupe River with no warning. County leaders have faced scrutiny over whether they acted quickly enough, and two officials acknowledged to Texas lawmakers this summer that they were asleep during the initial hours of the disaster. A third was out of town.
Using first responder communications, weather service alerts, survivor video and testimony, the Associated Press assembled a timeline of the chaotic rescue effort. AP was among the outlets that requested the release of the 911 recordings.
Many people were rescued by boats and emergency vehicles. Some calls came from people being swept away in RVs. Others came from survivors perched in trees or on rooftops.
But some of the calls released Friday came from people who did not survive, said Kerrville Police Chief Chris McCall, who warned the audio is difficult to hear.
“The tree I’m in is starting to lean and it’s going to fall. Is there a helicopter close?” Bradley Perry, a firefighter, calmly told a dispatcher as he watched his wife, Tina, and their RV wash away. “I’ve probably got maybe five minutes left.” He did not survive. His wife was later found alive, clinging to a tree.
In another call, a woman in a community of riverside cabins reported the water rising rapidly into their building.
“We are flooding, and we have people in cabins we can’t get to,” she said. “We are flooding almost all the way to the top.” Children’s voices could be faintly heard in the background.
Some callers phoned back repeatedly as they climbed to higher ground, sometimes going from a second floor to an attic to a roof within half an hour, showing how quickly the water rose.
As daylight approached, the call volume surged again. People reported survivors in trees, on rooftops, and floating in cars. Britt Eastland, co-director of Camp Mystic, called for search and rescue resources and the National Guard, saying as many as 40 people were missing. “We’re out of power. We hardly have any cell service,” he said.
Some calls came from relatives and friends outside the flood zone who realized loved ones were in danger. One woman said an elderly friend’s home was filled with water up to his head; his phone cut out as she tried to relay a dispatcher’s instructions.
With calls pouring in nonstop, dispatchers tried to provide comfort while quickly moving to the next emergency. They advised callers to get to rooftops or higher ground. Children could be heard screaming in some calls.
“There is water everywhere, we cannot move. We are upstairs in a room and the water is rising,” said a woman calling from Camp Mystic. She called back later, asking, “How do we get to the roof if the water is so high? Can you already send someone here? With the boats?” She asked when help would arrive.
“I don’t know,” the dispatcher said. “I don’t know.”
