State officials admitted last week during the first committee hearing on the deadly Hill Country floods that first responders couldn't communicate with each other, volunteers weren’t vetted, and some emergency management officials were not properly trained to lead a disaster response.

It's imperative that the Texas Legislature address communication in the 30-day special session that began July 21, Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd told members of the Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding .

Kidd said that while he was in Kerrville on the morning of July 4, he was unable to talk by radio with San Antonio firefighters because their devices didn’t work outside of their home jurisdiction, just an hour away from the disaster.

“They had some really cheap

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