Officials release full 911 calls from deadly Texas Hill Country flooding

KERR COUNTY, Texas - Five months after the catastrophic flooding in Kerr County, hundreds of frantic 911 calls from the overnight July 4 flood were released publicly Friday.

Kerrville police say during the six hours of flooding, the 911 center answered more than 400 calls, largely from people trapped in or on top of their homes.

The dispatchers struggled to give a timetable of when help was coming.

Viewer discretion is advised for the video above, as the call audio is highly disturbing. 

Texas flooding 911 calls released

More than 130 people were killed in the Central Texas floods. The audio released Friday reveals some of those victims' final words. FOX 4 reviewed hundreds of calls while preparing this story. 

Just two dispatchers manned the Kerrville 911 center, which was inundated with calls starting around 3 a.m.

Those calls included cries for help from Camp Mystic, the all-girls camp where 25 campers and two counselors were killed in the disaster.

Call audio excerpts:

One caller reported that they were evacuating the cabins, which were beginning to fill with water. 

Another woman relayed she rescued two campers from the river.

"We live about a mile down the road from Camp Mystic," the caller told dispatch. "We've already got two little girls who have come down the river. We have gotten to them, but I'm not sure how many else are out there."

Another call came from one person trapped by the floodwaters, desperately seeking help for themselves and two elderly people, 

 One call, from the all-boy's Camp La Junta, reported their cabin quickly filling with water. They told the dispatcher there were at least 60 people in that one building. Cabins were entirely washed away at that camp.

A nearby RV park along the Guadalupe River was also washed away. One caller from that area told dispatch that his wife had already been killed in the tragedy. At that time, he was trapped in a tree that was starting to lean in the rushing water. He begged for a helicopter to save him.

Multiple people called back throughout the night looking for answers, and asking when help would arrive.

Police explain 911 conduct

According to authorities, the nature of the staff volume that night forced them to end calls early.

"Once the basic critical information was collected and no more assistance over the phone could be provided, telecommunicators were faced with the difficult decision to disconnect and move onto the next call," said Kerrville PD Chief Chris McCall.

Deadly Central Texas flooding

The backstory:

In the early hours on July 4, four months worth of rain fell in Central Texas, in an area referred to as "flash flood alley."

The Guadalupe River soon swelled far past its banks, sending a nearly 30-foot wall of water rushing down the floodplains while residents and campers slept. 

Summer camps, including Camp Mystic, had cabins built in and near known flood plains. Many people were killed in the floods, including "Heaven's 27" at Camp Mystic. Long-lasting efforts to recover missing people enlisted the help of thousands of first responders and volunteers from across the nation. 

In the aftermath, questions were raised about warning sirens, emergency preparedness plans, and response times in the towns and camps affected by the disaster. These concerns prompted the new Texas regulations.