CNN: At Least 80 Confirmed Dead in Texas Flooding, Press Conference Was Cut After Question About Preemptive Evacuation

HILL: “We are back with our breaking news coverage of the deadly flooding in Texas. We can tell you at this hour, at least 80 people are now confirmed dead. Dozens remain missing. We are also getting new video from Friday, which shows the Coast Guard here pulling victims up out of raging flood waters near Kerrville, Texas. CNN correspondent Leigh Waldman is in Kerrville right now. Leigh, we also just heard from local officials. What more do they have to say, especially as we‘re in the middle of these alerts, as I understand it, that are coming right where you are?”
WALDMAN: “Erica, good to be with you. Yeah, the rain is already starting here. We‘ve heard some cracks of thunder in the area that we‘re in now. But the biggest piece of information coming from the officials in that press conference that wrapped up just a few moments ago, they talked about those missing campers from Camp Mystic that we‘ve been focusing on for several days now, ever since those flood waters started to rise early Friday morning. 10 girls are still missing. One camp counselor is still missing at this point. Obviously, those search-and-rescue efforts are continuing. But, Erica, it‘s important to put into context, that‘s not the only camp that sits along the Guadalupe River there. There‘s about a dozen or so other camps that are in that area, and nearly None of them evacuated out, despite there being National Weather Service warnings issued on Thursday afternoon about flooding concerns. That‘s something that we asked city officials about. Take a listen.”

[Clip starts]
WALDMAN: “We know that there is National Weather Service order issued on Thursday afternoon talking about these flood watches and issuing Kerr County as a high-risk area overnight. Why not preemptively evacuate camps earlier was a good question. If you guys want to the answer — “
RICE: “Yeah. No. Again, it is still a great question. And when you looked at the National Weather Service notification, when you look at that map, that map showed Kerr County kind of in the northeast corner, and that spread all the way through San Angelo. So there‘s a lot of information. That‘s a wide area that must be addressed. And so as we‘re, you know, preparing for it, unfortunately, the rain hit at the the most inopportune time and right in the most inopportune areas where the north and south were hit. It converged and so here we are. So, again, we want to continue to focus on those rescue operations, and we‘re not taking any more questions. Thank you.”
[Clip ends]

WALDMAN: “Now you see, right after that they cut off the questions, only allowing four to be asked after that press conference happened today. But people here want to know why there were not evacuation orders — “
HILL: “Leigh, I’m gonna interrupt you for just a moment. The president is speaking. Let’s listen in.”