Warnings predicted both Texas floods and Hurricane Helene. But in both disasters, people were left in harm’s way.

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.

Officials in Kerr County, where the majority of the deaths from the July 4 flash floods occurred, have yet to detail what actions they took in the early hours of the disaster.

By Alan Gionet Click here for updates on this story COLORADO (KCNC) — It is hard to look at the heartbreak of the disaster in Texas. In Colorado past flash floods have brought similar heartache and similar threats.

CBS News analysis shows there were 22 warnings sent by the National Weather Service for Kerr County and the Kerrville area, but many residents say they didn't get alerts.

A small Texas town that recorded no deaths in last weekend’s flood disaster had recently upgraded its emergency alert system — the kind of setup state, county and federal officials

John David Trolinger, former information technology director for Kerr County, helped install the area's CodeRED emergency alert system. He shared with Jason Allen what he heard on the emergency radio transmissions as the Guadalupe River was quickly rising.

A 2024 RAND report found Texas cellphone users opted out of wireless emergency alerts at the highest rate. Nearly 30% of Texans chose to turn off at least one kind of wireless alert, a choice researchers partly attributed to exhaustion from the large number of statewide alerts.

Joined by first lady Melania Trump and officials, Trump surveyed the devastation and met with victims' families and emergency responders.