Kerr County failed to secure a warning system, even as local officials remained aware of the risks and as billions of dollars were available for similar projects.

President Donald Trump was expected to arrive in Kerr County, Texas, Friday afternoon, one week after the area was struck by catastrophic flooding.

They ultimately didn’t install the warning systems near the camps where dozens of young campers died in the recent flooding. In Comal County, Texas, about 90 miles east of Kerr County, the Guadalupe River meanders into Canyon Lake before picking back up ...

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.

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

Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.

In other words, we keep playing a game of chance with forces indifferent to us—until we are finally reminded of the cost of losing.