Texas flooding survivor & witness reaction to Kerrville damage, search & rescues: 'Complete shock'

Austin American-Statesman

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Torrential rain overwhelmed the Texas Hill Country and sent the Guadalupe River surging through Kerrville, triggering a sudden flash-flood emergency. Viewers learn that 10–15 inches of runoff funneled into the normally tranquil waterway overnight, transforming it into a fast-moving, debris-filled torrent that spilled out of its banks and tore through neighborhoods, RV parks and low-water crossings before most residents knew what was happening. Sirens, phone alerts and the roar of the water woke many people just minutes before rescue boats and high-clearance trucks had to be launched.

A survivor interviewed in the video recounts waking to knee-deep water inside her travel trailer and realizing she had minutes, not hours, to escape. She describes scrambling out in the dark, wading to higher ground while propane tanks and patio furniture floated past, and then watching her home roll downstream. Her voice cracks as she recalls thinking she might not make it and because she still does not know where some neighbors ended up. She says the experience left her in “complete shock,” a phrase repeated by several witnesses to convey how quickly a familiar landscape turned unrecognizable.

Drone footage and cellphone video show entire rows of RVs flipped or carried away, pickup trucks partially submerged, pavement peeled off county roads and uprooted cypress trees jammed against bridge pylons. Witnesses standing on a bluff marvel at just how wide the river has become, estimating it at three to four times its normal width. They point out that previous floods in 2018 and 1998 were bad, but this event feels worse because it arrived so suddenly and because so many people were sleeping in lightweight trailers along the banks.

Emergency-management officials explain that more than 70 calls for help poured in within two hours. Game Wardens, volunteer firefighters and the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office combined forces for nearly three dozen swift-water rescues, using inflatable Zodiacs, airboats and even a DPS helicopter equipped with a hoist. Several pets were saved along with their owners. Crews were still searching for at least one missing person when the report was recorded, and authorities ask residents to stay off flooded roads, noting that most flood fatalities in Texas occur in vehicles.

The video shifts to damage assessment: power outages affect roughly 2,500 customers; two municipal water wells are offline; and portions of State Highway 39 and Loop 534 remain barricaded. County officials estimate millions of dollars in infrastructure damage, from washed-out culverts to silt-filled parks. Environmental crews will test well water for contamination, while road teams remove downed trees and replace guardrails. Insurance agents have already set up temporary offices near Louise Hays Park to process claims.

In closing, the survivor says she is grateful to be alive and overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers who handed her dry clothes and coffee only hours after she lost everything. Local nonprofits are organizing donation drives for bottled water, cleaning supplies and temporary housing. Meteorologists warn that another slow-moving thunderstorm complex could redevelop later in the week, so officials urge residents to keep cellphones charged, sign up for emergency text alerts and avoid camping close to rivers until the rainy pattern breaks.

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