Two top leaders in a rural Texas county were asleep and a third was out of town in the initial hours of a catastrophic flood that caused widespread destruction and killed more than 130 people.

William "Dub" Thomas, the Kerr County Emergency Management Director since 2015, detailed his whereabouts during the crisis.

In the aftermath of the deadly July 4 floods, the need for warning systems has been sounded by elected officials and members of the public.