Public officials charged with finding solutions to prevent future tragedy appear to be zeroing in on what might have led to the carnage we are witnessing in the Texas Hill Country in the wake of the horrifying floods that tore through the region.
It was the lack of any sort of electronic warning system that would have told residents to get the hell out of the Guadalupe River's way as it roared its way downstream.
I heard a news report that absolutely galls me to no end. It stated that Kerr County Commissioners Court had debated the installation of storm sirens for years only to fail to act after earlier floods.
Would adequate warning sirens have prevented all the deaths that have occurred since the Fourth of July deluge? Probably not. However, for God Almighty's sake, if they could have prevented some loss of life then that would be a huge victory for some Hill Country victims.
I don't yet know how many victims' remains have been recovered from the carnage. I know there will be more. Many of them will be children who were attending Camp Mystic, the Christian girls camp along the river. Our hearts continue to break as they find what's left of these beautiful children. And the adults who died along with them.
I don't want us to wait until we're no longer hurting before we find some answers to the issue at hand: What can we do to prevent this from happening again? I believe storm sirens would be a productive start?
Texas is really good at doing nothing and relying on fading memory to escape accountability. Now you can get short-barreled rifles so you can sneak 'em into schools and such.
Uvalde? Where's that?