AP uses exclusive audio files to build an an interactive timeline revealing chaos and lack of preparedness during deadly Texas floods

By Claudia Lauer, Panagiotis Mouzakis, Gene Johnson and Jamie Stengle

The accountability team covering the deadly Texas floods had been unable to find any dispatch transmissions from first responders in Kerr County — the epicenter of the disaster. Local officials were stalling on records requests for 911 calls, leaving a gap in the public’s understanding of the initial response.

Reporter Claudia Lauer heard a firefighter had asked for a CodeRed alert in a transmission during the flooding’s first hours, indicating someone had recordings of early emergency response radio traffic. Lauer saw an interview with a former county employee and was able to connect that person with the screenname of a volunteer radio recorder on a scanner site. Within hours, she’d contacted him and had 24 hours of audio recordings.

She deciphered them, sorting through audio in which first responders identified themselves only by call signs and used local nicknames for locations.

The transmissions ultimately told this story: All calls in the first hours were from volunteer firefighters, EMS workers and deputies acting on their own, without coordinated planning or oversight.

The calls also showed the heartbreaking efforts of rescuers scrambling to find people in darkness.

Lauer ultimately selected nine audio clips. Data journalist Chris Keller helped pinpoint transmission locations using GPS coordinates. Dallas reporter Jamie Stengle identified UGC video clips among hours of AP video to enhance the interactive. Seattle reporter Gene Johnson, along with Lauer, wrote a text story stitching together the elements. Anchorage reporter Mark Thiessen reviewed hours of first-responder transmissions from later in the day and surrounding counties to provide context.

Designer and editor Panagiotis Mouzakis then used all the elements — audio, video, text, GPS coordinates and curated file photos — to build an intuitive interactive bringing the reader along, minute by minute, as floods swept down the Guadalupe River.

The judges were impressed with the effective presentation and the ease with which readers could scroll through the integrated storytelling, and the massive reporting effort to obtain the material and meticulously pinpoint locations.

For their exclusive content and innovative presentation, the team behind the interactive timeline on the Texas floods earns this week’s Best of the Week — second winner.