Texas Sen. Ted Cruz visits Central Texas after devastating flooding: "When Texans face crisis, we come together"
Many Texas families are reeling as recovery continues due to catastrophic floods in the Hill Country and Kerr County this weekend.
That includes Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who said just a week prior to the floods, he was picking up his own daughter from a camp down the street from Camp Mystic.
"The agony that Texas is feeling right now…there aren't words to describe," Cruz told CBS News Texas on Monday. "This tragedy hits close to home for so many of us in the state."
At least 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic died in devastating flash flooding that swept through the region, the camp announced Monday. At least 100 people have died in the flooding that struck Texas Hill Country on Friday.
President Trump signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County on Sunday morning, as Gov. Greg Abbott visited flood-damaged areas.
Cruz said he spoke with Trump on the phone over the weekend, to which the president said, "Anything Texas needs, the answer is yes."
He continued to say that as a father, it was frustrating that the girls at Camp Mystic were not out of harm's way quicker – the floods grew to their worst at the midpoint of a long holiday weekend when many people were asleep.
When some officials were asked during a press conference why emergency managers didn't do more to alert the public and evacuate campers in the area, they didn't have a clear response, stressing that they were focused on the missing victims.
According to Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, a top local government official, the area does "not have a warning system," and authorities were shocked by the ferocity of the floods.
The area is prone to flooding, and transcripts of their meetings show Kerr County commissioners discussed whether to install an outdoor flood warning system several times in recent years, but hadn't done so due to the cost.
Cruz said this tragedy can start a healthy conversation about the area's readiness for flooding.
"How can we make sure warnings of a weather event [reach people quicker], how can we be proactive to get people out of the way," he said.
Watch Cruz's full interview in the player above.
