Three hours and 21 minutes. That’s how much time passed from when the National Weather Service sent out its first flash flood warning for part of Kerr County to when the first flooding reports came in from low-lying water crossings.

What were Kerr County Officials doing to prepare for the possible flooding ahead of July Fourth? That's the question on many minds in the wake of the recent tragedy.

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 the wake of the central Texas flash flooding, after local officials pointed fingers at the National Weather Service for its alerts and forecasts, the agency responded: The NWS alerts gave several hours of lead time,

NWS says Flash Flood Warnings were issued on July 3 and early July 4 in Central Texas, giving more than three hours of warning.

The National Weather Service issued several forecasts Tuesday through Thursday morning, warning of the risk of flash flooding.

Otherwise, avoid travel.” 4:18 a.m. “Very dangerous flash flooding ongoing in northwest Travis, western Williamson, and Burnet counties. A very slow moving disturbance is producing extreme rainfall rates.

Officials in flood-stricken central Texas on Wednesday again deflected mounting questions about whether they could have done more to warn people ahead of devastating flash flooding that killed at least 119 people on July 4.