Texas officials say they were caught off guard by deadly storms: 'We didn’t know'
The deadly floods that struck Texas on the 4th of July caught local officials off guard as the torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to rise to near-historic levels in a matter of minutes, officials said at a press conference Saturday.
At least 32 people died after heavy rain pounded Kerr County, Texas, early Friday, leading to "catastrophic" flooding, according to officials.
A Flood Watch was in effect for parts of New Mexico and western Texas Thursday afternoon as rounds of slow-moving thunderstorms packing heavy rain moved through the area. By Thursday evening, five inches of rain had fallen in parts of western Texas, including Midland and Odessa.
Eric Vryn/Getty Images - PHOTO: Deaths Reported After Flooding In Texas Hill Country
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Kerr County, where the river is located, around 1:14 a.m. Friday.
MORE: Texas flooding updatesThe Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes that morning, Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring told reporters Friday.
Eric Gay/AP - PHOTO: Extreme Weather Texas
"This came at night, when people were asleep in bed," he said.
The river reached its second-highest height on record, surpassing a 1987 flood level, the National Weather Service said.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told reporters that it is up to local mayors and counties to evacuate if they feel the need and many were unsure where the storm would land.
At a news conference Friday, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said the county does not have a warning system on the river.
Kelly was pressed by a reporter as to why evacuations didn't take place Thursday, but the judge said, "We didn't know this flood was coming."
Eric Gay/AP - PHOTO: Extreme Weather Texas
"We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States, and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what's happened here, none whatsoever," he said.
MORE: Video Deadly 'catastrophic flooding' in TexasRain continued to hit the region Saturday, prompting flash flood emergency warnings for much of Burnet County and western parts of Williamson County and Travis County.
ABC News' Emily Shapiro and Kyle Reiman contributed to this post.
