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.

In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.

In the days after the devastating flood that killed dozens in Central Texas, local officials have deflected direct questions about preparations and warnings in advance of the storm that struck July Fourth.

President Donald Trump met with victims' families and surveyed the damage of catastrophic floods that struck the state one week ago.

Kerr County failed to secure a warning system, even as local officials remained aware of the risks and as billions of dollars were available for similar projects.

A stretch of chain-link fence along the Guadalupe River in the Texas town of Kerrville has become a focal point for the community's grief.