A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract for a flood warning system that would have been used to help with emergency response, local officials said.

Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.

River gauges, sirens and clear alerts can together help emergency managers anticipate flash floods and communicate life-saving information.

Twice, the Texas Division of Emergency Management turned down Kerr County's requests for money to improve flood warnings.

Officials in Kerr County, Texas — where 27 campers and counselors at a Christian summer camp were killed in catastrophic flooding — had discussed installing a flood warning system

The first weather emergency alert sent by the National Weather Service with urgent language instructing people to "seek higher ground now" was sent at 4:03 a.m. local time.

The teenage son, Leo, survived after he became snared in barbed wire, preventing him from being swept away. The boy is recovering in hospital. As the BBC was interviewing the Rojas couple, a neighbour walked up to present them with an item salvaged from the house.