https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/us/texas-floods-warning-system-invs
Behind the scenes, NWS officials were communicating with local emergency managers in the affected region over an internal messaging platform. Typically, the media is expected to treat messages from this platform as off-the-record, but a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official granted CNN permission to report general information about the Texas disaster from the platform.
The messages show that after initial briefings on the afternoon of Thursday, July 3, about the potential of heavy rains to come, emergency managers from some counties in the region were posting on the system, querying forecasters about what to expect. Those messages picked up in pace as the flooding began in the early hours of July 4.
But no emergency manager from Kerr County participated in those discussions on the messaging platform. It’s unclear whether officials were reviewing the information being shared.