Cadaver dogs lead search in Texas as local response details emerge

(NewsNation) — An service of cadaver dogs is driving the adjacent signifier of recovery efforts successful central Texas arsenic much details look astir actions from section officials.

More than 130 radical are dead, and astatine slightest 100 stay missing aft aboriginal greeting flash floods deluged the portion implicit the Fourth of July weekend.

"Dogs are a cardinal instrumentality for exigency managers to assistance find these people,” said Bill Holmberg, with Unified Search and Rescue.

Jeanette Sinclair, a elder K-9 handler with Buckeye Search and Rescue Dogs, and her canine spouse Jolene are 1 of galore pairs scouring cardinal Texas.

“She'll enactment done the brush, and past each of a abrupt she'll prime up her measurement a small bit. Or she volition propulsion her caput similar that,” Sinclair said. “Or she volition enactment immoderate country and travel backmost and springiness maine oculus contact."

Handlers told NewsNation their dogs tin odor up to six feet underground and underwater, a captious accomplishment for betterment efforts successful the challenging terrain of Texas' Hill Country region.

"We each person families. So, we each benignant of look astatine it similar 'What if that was my household member?' We would anticipation that different radical would bash the aforesaid happening for us,” Holmberg said. “We conscionable privation to beryllium determination to get these folks backmost to their families."

Kerr County officials sent exigency alert 2 days aft flood: FEMA

Officials successful hard-hit Kerr County did not contented a locally targeted exigency alert until 2 days aft deadly flooding began, according to information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency reviewed by NewsNation affiliate KXAN.

Instead, exigency flash flood warnings sent connected July 4 and 5 came from the National Weather Service. Those were distributed through CodeRED, a wide notification strategy that requires members of the nationalist to registry to person alerts.

After an archetypal alert astatine 1:14 a.m., an further 21 flash flood alerts were issued by the NWS connected July 4 successful Kerr County, according to archived alert data. 

FEMA records bespeak the region itself ne'er issued an alert connected July 4 astir flash flooding done the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, which alerts each phones successful a definite area, nary substance their exigency alert preferences.

County officials person not responded to KXAN's requests for comments.

NewsNation affiliate KXAN contributed to this report.