MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Last night, hundreds of mourners gathered in a football stadium at Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
They came together to remember those who died in last week's flash floods that have killed at least 120 people. It was also a vigil for the many more who are still missing.
MARTIN: The Texas Newsroom's Lucio Vasquez joins us now from Kerrville to tell us more about all this. Good morning, Lucio.
LUCIO VASQUEZ, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So just paint a picture for me, if you would. Tell us about the gathering at the high school last night.
VASQUEZ: Yeah, well, organizers held a large cross in front of the bleachers, which were filled with grieving neighbors. They prayed together, they sang, remembering those that they had lost. The vigil also included a tribute to Camp Mystic. It's a Christian girls' summer camp here in the area that became the heart of one of the deadliest natural disasters in Texas history. Many in attendance were also wearing green ribbons. That's the official color of the camp. Randy Rose was also at the vigil. He told me that this is a pretty tight-knit community and that any loss is really felt by everyone here.
RANDY ROSE: It was a time of healing. It was a time of trying to get back to some normalcy and step away from the tragedy for a minute. It was a moment to just pause, catch our breath and remember that there's still light and goodness.
VASQUEZ: You know, many stayed after the vigil ended. Kids were running around the football field. Balls were being tossed back and forth. And there were a lot of hugs. And so people said that they felt lighter after being there.
MARTIN: Oh, that's good to hear. And you've also been talking with people who were in the path of the river, who of course now are trying to put their lives back together. So just tell us a little bit about what they told you.
VASQUEZ: Yeah, there's just been an overwhelming sense of disbelief and exhaustion. I spoke with another man. His name is John Cox (ph). He's a 77-year-old man who's been here for a few years. He has a house just down the road, and he told me that he's never seen anything quite like this, that his place was almost completely submerged by the river when it crested.
JOHN COX: Flood got in the house. You know, you can see the mattresses out there. Ruined all of the furniture in the house.
VASQUEZ: He's been cleaning for days now, filling a nearby dumpster. But despite losing most of his home, he actually says he's grateful for the help he's received from the community and from volunteers who've come into town after the floods. And the response has been striking. I've seen what looks to be an army of volunteers and public safety agencies setting up shop throughout the region to help search for victims and jump-start recovery efforts.
MARTIN: I think that people are starting to, you know, look at their state and local officials and ask them, you know, talk about the lack of preparedness, and in some places, people not getting warnings in time. Is this being addressed?
VASQUEZ: Yes. And, you know, that's what locals have been telling the Texas Newsroom, that they didn't get sufficient warnings or that they never got an alert at all. And there's been a lot of questions, and people want to know what exactly happened. At yesterday's press conference here in Kerr County, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha, he said that officials would be investigating.
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LARRY LEITHA: When or if necessary, if improvements need to be made, improvements will be made.
VASQUEZ: Notably, earlier this spring, state lawmakers voted down a bill that would have provided more money for communications and warning systems during natural disasters. But now Texas Governor Greg Abbott says fixing that is a priority. So yesterday, he called for a special session of the state legislature for later this month. And he wants lawmakers to pass a new bill that would provide funding to improve early warning systems and other preparedness infrastructure in flood-prone areas across Texas. The question for a lot of people here, though, is whether that will prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.
MARTIN: That is the Texas Newsroom's Lucio Vasquez. Lucio, thanks so much.
VASQUEZ: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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