Recovery efforts are now well underway as flood waters have receded in the Texas Hill Country and South-Central Texas. Those efforts follow days of heavy rainfall, totaling more than 30 inches from July 12-17.
As the Texas Newsroom reports, the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT), Division of Emergency Management, and other agencies are traveling throughout the state removing debris from roadways, conducting rescues, and rebuilding roads.
Gov. Greg Abbott says a large number of them are concentrated in the hardest hit areas, especially the city and county of Uvalde, which almost became an island because of what happened with the rivers around it. Local officials say that hundreds of homes in the city of Uvalde have been destroyed or damaged by the floods.
Levi Gutierrez handed out free clothes at a church to victims and recalled, “The scope of the communities that were affected, and how bad they were affected, yeah, this is very unique. That hasn't happened like this in a long, long time.”Abbott has already sent a Major Disaster Declaration to the federal government. If approved, it will help the state pay for a portion of the cleanup and provide financial assistance to individuals impacted by the flood event.
The damage comes just over a year since deadly flooding in Texas killed more than 130 people -- mostly in nearby Kerr County. As Jack Morgan, with Texas Public Radio reports, One of the clearest signs of how much the flooding had once again changed Kerrville was the closure of the Sydney Baker Street Bridge last Thursday — something rarely seen.
Resident Jamie Flores explained why as the ordeal was still underway. “Right now the barge that they were using to search for the people is stuck under that bridge right there. So that's what they're doing." The barge had been used in the search for the two who remain unaccounted for, from last year’s 4th of July floods.
Flores doesn't live along the Guadalupe River, but she said friends who do escaped the flooding safely. "Yes. Everybody's safe so far." Towns west of the Hill Country like Sonora and Ozona have also begun the long task of cleaning up after severe floods.
Local officials say there were no injuries or deaths because of the flooding. But the water got into many homes and businesses near branches of the Devils River.
Tammy Fisher owns a ranch about six miles southwest of Sonora where she raises cattle, sheep and goats. “Most of them can probably get to high ground if they’re smart enough, hopefully. I know I’ve lost a lot of fences, so my livestock can get out on neighbors’. So who knows where they’ll actually be.”
Fisher said there was one foot of water standing inside her house. This is the second time the area has flooded since 2018.
