Texas floods latest: Death toll rises to 121 as Camp Mystic cabins ‘found to be in extremely hazardous’ flood zone

John David Trolinger, former IT director for Kerr County, said a flood alert would have been “ineffective” for hard-hit Hunt even if it was sent out earlier.

Trolinger was listening to dispatch calls Friday morning when floodwaters started hitting Central Texas.

Audio of these calls from a local firefighter was obtained by CNN and played on air Thursday.

“Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents asking them to find higher ground or stay home?” the firefighter asked.

That call was made at 4:22 a.m. local time, according to KSAT, which also obtained dispatch recordings. Trolinger started hearing calls signaling something was wrong at 3:27 a.m. local time, according to CNN’s Erin Burnett, who had Trolinger on her show Thursday night.

When Burnett asked Trolinger, who had helped install the CodeRED emergency alert system, if things could have played out differently, he said, “ It’s too late for Hunt. The water’s come up and the wall of water’s heading down to Ingram.”

“ A quick action could have helped people down river. But at 3:30, once it hit 4:30, it was just too late. The CodeRED would’ve been ineffective in my opinion.”

The first CodeRED alerts were sent out at 5:34 a.m. local time, per KSAT.

Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday Texas flags will be lowered to half-staff “in heartfelt remembrance of those whose lives were tragically lost in the recent floods.”

While search and rescue efforts are still underway, 121 people have died so far and 173 are missing after flash flooding on July 4 devastated Central Texas.

The flags will be at half-staff until Monday, July 14.

Governor Greg Abbott thanked Tennessee for helping with search and rescue efforts by sending K-9 teams to Central Texas following catastrophic floods on July 4.

It’s been six days since flash floods along the Guadalupe River devastated Central Texas.

At least 121 people were killed in the floods, and 173 are still missing. Search and rescue efforts continued Thursday, but hopes of finding survivors have faded. No survivors have been found since Friday.

Here are some pictures from Thursday’s search and rescue efforts:

President Donald Trump called for alarms after flash floods along the Guadalupe River last Friday devastated Central Texas.

Trump told NBC News’ Kristen Welker Thursday he thinks “everyone’s doing a great job” responding to the catastrophe.

While Texas officials are working tirelessly to find the 173 people still missing, questions have been raised about whether local, state and federal officials could’ve done more to warn residents about the floods.

“After having seen this horrible event, I would imagine you’d put alarms up in some form, where alarms would go up if they see any large amounts of water or whatever it is,” Trump told Welker, adding, “But the local officials were hit by this just like everybody else.”

Kerrville, which was hit hard by the flash floods in Central Texas last Friday, has canceled an upcoming 5K run hosted by its police department “for obvious reasons.”

“We must regretfully cancel this Saturday’s 5KPD run for obvious reasons. Future runs are not confirmed at this time, but we look forward to the day when we can return to the River Trail as a community. We thank you for understanding,” Kerrville police wrote in a Facebook post Thursday.

“DHS and its components have taken an all-hands-on-deck approach” to the Texas flooding, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Politico, pointing to aid given by the U.S. Coast Guard and Border Protection. “FEMA has deployed extensive staff to support Texas response and recovery operations based on staff skills and requirements.”

Former FEMA officials told the outlet that Richardson being away from the scene has prompted concerns that the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, is in charge of FEMA’s response to the tragedy.

Read more from Gustaf Kilander: