KERR COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — After devastating floodwaters tore through the Texas Hill Country on the morning of July 4, questions remain: Can these communities connected by the Guadalupe River, and the beloved summer camps nearby ever be the same?
"I think it definitely changed the face of Kerrville forever," said Nate Fitch, who lives in Kerrville and shares a riverfront property with John Cox.
The two shared video with 25 News, showing the stark contrast before and after the flood. But for Fitch and Cox, the focus isn’t on what was lost in terms of property. It's on the lives taken too soon.
“We lost friends in this, we lost children that we're friends with," Fitch said. "It hits right to the heart of our community. There's no worse way to die than to drown, especially when you're at summer camp, praising God. That's what they were there to do, and they were taken away. There's no words to describe that kind of loss."
The destruction is evident — century-old trees uprooted, clothing tangled in branches, shoes scattered along the riverbank. The emotional and physical toll on the community is immeasurable.
“It’s a disaster zone now,” Cox said. “I know it's hard to see, especially for people that didn't see it before this, what it looked like before this.”
Cox described a once-serene landscape, now stripped bare.
“This was just a beautiful forest here," Cox said. "You could not see any of that walkway over there. You couldn't see the highway. You couldn't even hardly hear the highway over there because of the trees here. It's very difficult to picture what this was from what you see right now."
Despite the loss, residents are turning to each other for strength. Communities linked by the Guadalupe River are determined to recover.
"It's not going to stop here," Fitch said. "Once we recover the last person that was lost in this, the next step is build back, and we're going to build back better and bigger than ever, and the people that we lost will forever be in our hearts."
Monetary Donations Can Be Made To:
- Kerr County Flood Relief Fund
- Center Point Volunteer Fire Department
- Texans on a Mission
- American Red Cross
The recent flooding has left families and entire communities in urgent need of support. Scripps News and the Scripps Howard Fund are partnering to provide critical relief. Every dollar donated will go directly toward helping victims recover.
