Kerr County first tried to secure $1 million for a flood warning system in 2017, but could not. Could such a system have prevented loss of life on July 4?

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.

Kerr County applied for federal grants to build a warning system to protect residents from flash floods. Under the Trump administration, that kind of funding is drying up.