Transcript
Dan Snow (0:03)
So, folks, you might have noticed the weather's changing out there. The sun appears to be out. The days are longer. This is in the northern hemisphere, of course, and it's got me excited for road trips, days out exploring, and long walks to castles on windswept crags. And if you're looking forward to all that, too, I've got the perfect companion podcast to join you on your adventures this summer. I'm Dan Snow, host of the Dan Snow's History Hit podcast, where I whisk you away into the greatest stories in history. Join me on the high seas as we follow the swashbuckling escapades of Francis Drake. On the Spanish Main, we unravel the myths of the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae. I'll tell you everything you need to know about how the American Revolution started and what it would have taken for you to survive the Black Death in medieval Europe. Rackets, luck. This is the podcast you need if you seek to escape into history. And we can all use a little escape at the moment. Check out Dan Snow's history wherever you get your podcasts.
Morgan Chesky (1:06)
Hey, friends. Big welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. Morgan Chesky here. It's been a minute since I've been in the host chair on the show because as many of you know, I've been on the ground in Kerrville, Kerr County, Texas, since the 4th of July weekend.
Hoda Kotb (1:21)
The news tonight out of Texas, it's just a gut punch.
Morgan Chesky (1:26)
Dozens of families are in anguish tonight, desperately searching for at least 27 children who went missing after the water swept through. So far, at least 129 people have died in the historic floods. 166 people are still missing and many of them are from the Kerr county area. Many of the lives lost were just kids who were away at summer camp. I've covered countless tragedies in my role as a news correspondent for NBC News. But this one absolutely feels different because this one doesn't hit close to home. It is home. I grew up in Kerrville, Texas, born in a hospital just two blocks away from the Guadalupe River. And the people affected those kids missing, they're not strangers. We're talking about high school classmates. Over the weekend, one of my high school football teammates celebrated the life of his young daughter. She was one of the 27 lives lost at Camp Mystic. My mom, Karen, went to high school with Jane Ragsdale. She was the beloved camp director at Heart of the Hills Camp. Jane grew up along this river, knew it well, and yet woke up Friday morning to water surrounding her bed. She called her brother and warned him before going silent. Now, more than a week in, there is a lot of pain here and an incredible amount of grief. And yet this community, my hometown, is starting to step back and really look for answers to multiple questions like how did things get so bad so fast? Did people get flash flood alerts, and if so, from whom? And by the time officials acted, was it already too late? You can call it accountability, a blame game, whatever you want. Everyone's accounts are coming in, and some, including the head of Texas Emergency management, W. Nim Kidd, are blaming the National Weather Service, saying it was understaffed and failed to warn residents in time. The original forecast that we received on Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3 to 6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4 to 8 inches of rain in the Hill Country. And the amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts. Others say the NWS did what it was supposed to do and that it was more than adequately staffed with what it calls surge staffing. That means five people on duty instead of the usual two. The NWS says it did issue a flood watch on Thursday, and as early as 1:14am on Friday, July 4, flash flood warnings went out. Add another layer to this mess. Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice told me he still doesn't know if he actually received a National Weather Service alert.