At a Wednesday morning press conference, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha declined to answer a question about delayed emergency alerts, saying that an "after-action" would follow the search and rescue efforts. "Those questions are gonna be answered," he added.

Alert fatigue may have led some residents to ignore warnings. Spotty cell service also could have kept some alerts from coming in at all.

Max Chesnes is the Tampa Bay Times' environment and climate reporter, covering public lands, water quality, wildlife and everything in between. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Instagram @MaxChesnes. Anyone can view a sampling of recent comments, but you must be a Times subscriber to contribute. Log in above or subscribe here.

Over 100 people have died after heavy rain pounded Kerr County, Texas, early Friday, leading to "catastrophic" flooding, the sheriff said.

President Trump visits Texas to survey flood damage and discuss relief efforts amidst scrutiny over emergency alert systems and FEMA's efficiency.

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

Three people, including two children, were killed in Tuesday afternoon's floods in Ruidoso, New Mexico, and numerous properties were destroyed. But the village was prepared, Mr Gutierrez said, with flood experts already on the ground and plans in place.

The loss of three lives to flash flooding in the mountain village of Ruidoso is “unfathomable and unfair,” New Mexico’s governor said Thursday, as surveys revealed more extensive damage to homes than initially thought.