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.

In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.

Nearly a week after deadly floods struck Central Texas, search and rescue teams are continuing to probe debris for those still missing.

At least 119 people have been found dead in nearly a week since heavy rainfall overwhelmed the river and flowed through homes and youth camps in the early morning hours of July 4. Ninety-five of those killed were in the hardest-hit county in central Texas, Kerr County, where the toll includes at least three dozen children.

A Kerrville-area river authority executed a contract for a flood warning system that would have been used to help with emergency response, local officials said.

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.

The search for bodies continued nearly a week after deadly flooding in Texas. With 121 people confirmed dead and at least 161 still missing, officials there are facing scrutiny. The National Weather Service issued several watches and warnings before midnight on July 3,

The grim task of searching for the scores of people missing from the devastating flood that struck Texas Hill Country nearly a week ago is taking an agonizing toll on searchers.