(The Center Square) - The historic rainfall in central and south Texas that continues to cause significant flooding is worse this year than it was during the historic July 4 flood last year, Gov. Greg Abbott said.
The difference is that no one died this year in Kerrville and new emergency preparedness measures worked, including sirens and text alerts, he said Monday at a press conference discussing emergency response efforts.
After surveying the area by helicopter, Abbott said, “we saw how rivers had ravaged communities, and especially in the areas along the contours of the river, we saw different levels of destruction that are nothing compared to what we saw a year ago. The flooding in Kerrville this year was worse than the flooding last year.”
Last year, a storm that hit in the early morning hours of July 4, 2025, caused the Guadalupe River to rise 20 feet in less than an hour. This year, the river rose more than 30 feet over a longer period. Despite National Weather Service alerts going out last year, Kerr County’s leaders, including its judge, sheriff and emergency response personnel, were either asleep or out of town, and emergency response efforts weren’t implemented, The Center Square reported.
More than 130 people were swept to their deaths, and two people’s remains have never been found. Multiple lawsuits are ongoing. Had early warnings gone out a few hours before the flood, fewer lives would have been lost, state lawmakers learned at an emergency hearing prompting them to implement legislative reforms, The Center Square reported.
This year, early warning systems were implemented, including text alerts and a siren system that worked, residents told The Center Square.
“Early warning systems saved lives,” Abbott said.
The governor said residents told him that the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which for nearly 10 years failed to implement flood measurement and warning systems, provided helpful information this year.
“The lessons learned from the Fourth of July last year prepared all of these local leaders as well as all the local residents to better be prepared to deal with what we faced this year from these devastating floods,” Abbott said.
“The press played crucial part in getting information out to the public. The public acted in response to information in ways that truly saved their own lives,” he added. He also thanked first responders and volunteers “for their swift and effective response to the floods that saved lives.”
Unlike the situation in Kerr County, officials in neighboring Kendall County last year prepared for the worst, and no one died, The Center Square reported. This year, evacuations also began early, and the high watermark in the Kendall County town of Comfort was at 37.08 feet Thursday right.
This year, two casualties were reported. One man was swept away in his RV near Comfort. One woman was swept away in her car in Uvalde, the seat of Uvalde County.
Texans are not out of the woods yet with ongoing concerns related to the Nueces River, Abbott said. Evacuations are ongoing in areas near Uvalde, where four rivers flow into the region that are historically dry due to severe drought conditions.
Several border communities remain threatened by high and rising waters, Abbott said. He also explained that the aggregation of water that's flowing downstream hasn’t peaked downstream and “the waters will continue to rise and continue to pose dangers for those local communities.”
Nearly all rivers in this in this region hit record highs, he added.
As floodwaters recede in most of these areas, “we are now transitioning into the process of the cleanup,” Abbott said. The state is working with local officials to expedite debris removal and accelerate the rebuilding process, including through a disaster declaration Abbott signed for 59 counties.
A major disaster declaration he signed also seeks federal relief for 28 counties.
State response efforts include more than 2,700 personnel, more than 1,400 vehicles, more than 115 boats, more than 21 aircraft and more than 530 people rescued, Abbott said.
The majority of structures impacted in Kerr County are owner-occupied single-family homes that will need long term housing recovery repair and rebuilding assistance. So far, 490 of them and 100 businesses have been identified in need of repair. Another 135 residences have sustained major damage or were destroyed, he said.
Multiple volunteer organizations are working in the community to assist with recovery efforts, including Texans on Mission, Samaritan’s Purse, Team Rubicon, Operation Blessing and Crisis Response Ministries. HEB, Mercy Chefs and the Salvation Army are providing food to those in need.
In Kendall County, the majority of impacted residents own and occupy single-family homes, Abbott said. Roughly 100 residences have been damaged; that number will go up once Boerne residences are fully assessed, he said.
Texans who sustained damage are encouraged to report it through the state’s Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool.
Commented