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.

Kerr County, where dozens of people—many of them children—died in this weekend's catastrophic flooding, knew flash floods were a danger in the area—but its application for a grant to improve its flood warning system was rejected by the Texas Division of Emergency Management in both 2017 and 2018,