All key leading officials from the Texas county hardest hit by the July 4 flash flooding that killed at least 136 people were absent from an emergency briefing call held before the tragedy unfolded, questioning from state lawmakers on Thursday revealed.

William "Dub" Thomas, the Kerr County Emergency Management Director since 2015, detailed his whereabouts during the crisis.

At a hearing in hard-hit Kerr County, an emergency management coordinator for the first time explained his whereabouts when the Guadalupe River burst its banks.