Flash floods killed at least two people and triggered more than 230 rescues across Texas Hill Country early Thursday, striking nearly the same stretch of river that killed more than 130 people one year ago.
The Guadalupe River rose from about 5 feet to more than 37 feet in roughly three hours near Comfort, according to U.S. Geological Survey data, as storms dropped several inches of rain on ground already saturated from days of earlier downpours. At Center Point, the river climbed 32 feet in four hours, a pace officials said echoed last July’s disaster.
Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed the two deaths Thursday evening. One victim died near Center Point in Kerr County; the other, a woman near Uvalde, was swept away while driving. Abbott said more than 2,350 responders and 1,400 vehicles had been deployed to reach stranded residents across the region.
The National Weather Service issued flash flood emergencies for Kerr, Uvalde and Kendall counties overnight, warning that a “large and deadly” flood wave was moving downstream. At Hunt, the river gauge spiked just above 20 feet, and at Kerrville it reached nearly 17 feet, both below major flood stage but still enough to close roads and force evacuations.
Neighbors reached for each other before crews arrived. Kerrville resident RickyRay Robertson, who survived last year’s flood, told CNN he waded through chest-deep water Thursday morning to help a pregnant neighbor after her car became stranded. He said conditions turned from a wet street to water at her door within about two minutes.
Volunteer rescue teams from the Cajun Navy, a Louisiana-based disaster relief group, deployed to the hard-hit Center Point area to work alongside local fire departments and sheriff’s deputies through the night. Kerrville officials said updated flood sirens installed after last year’s tragedy gave residents critical extra minutes to reach higher ground before the water hit. The city also asked residents to conserve water after flooding damaged equipment at its treatment plant.
A second summer of loss
Thursday’s flooding struck almost exactly one year after the catastrophic July 2025 flood that killed more than 130 people in Kerr County, including 27 girls and counselors at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River. For many Hill Country residents, the rising water Thursday brought back immediate and painful memories of that morning.
Kerrville officials credited faster, clearer warnings with helping limit the death toll this time. Even so, some families who lost relatives last summer found themselves watching the same river climb past their doorsteps again, a reality local leaders say has left the community exhausted and on edge.
Forecasters said more rain was possible through Friday night across the same saturated counties, raising the risk of renewed flooding. Officials urged residents to avoid driving through flooded roadways, historically the leading cause of flood-related deaths in the United States.
Search crews continued checking isolated homes Thursday evening, while utility crews worked to restore power to areas where lines had gone down and road crews assessed damage to highways before reopening them to traffic. State officials said Abbott’s disaster declaration would help unlock funding for the cleanup and recovery effort still ahead.
The Texas Hill Country has long been known among meteorologists as “flash flood alley,” a region where thin soil, steep terrain and warm Gulf moisture combine to turn ordinary storms into fast-moving disasters. That geography was central to last year’s tragedy and remained a focus of Thursday’s emergency briefings, with officials repeatedly stressing that river levels there can go from calm to catastrophic with almost no advance notice.
Abbott said state resources would remain in the region through the weekend given the continued rain threat. He added that emergency management officials were coordinating directly with county judges in the hardest-hit areas to identify remaining needs as the water recedes.
