At a Wednesday morning press conference, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha declined to answer a question about delayed emergency alerts, saying that an "after-action" would follow the search and rescue efforts. "Those questions are gonna be answered," he added.

It was the first time a new round of severe weather has paused the search since the flooding earlier this month. Search efforts are expected to resume Monday.

FEMA records show officials in Kerr County, Texas, did not use FEMA's system to send warnings to phones in the hours as the flooding began on July 4.

Since 2016, the topic of a "flood warning system" for Kerr County has come up at 20 different county commissioners' meetings, according to minutes. The idea for a system was first introduced by Kerr County Commissioner Thomas Moser and Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas in March 2016.

Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic's buildings from their 100-year flood map, as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors.

Plans to develop a flood monitoring system in the Texas county hit hardest by deadly floods were scheduled to begin only a few weeks later.

Twice, the Texas Division of Emergency Management turned down Kerr County's requests for money to improve flood warnings.

A "Basic Plan" for emergency response for three Texas counties labeled flash flooding as having a "major" impact on public safety, according to a page on a city website.