Deadly floods have returned to Texas Hill Country for the second consecutive year, killing at least two people and triggering hundreds of emergency rescues across the region. The Guadalupe River rose over 20 feet in just five hours during the overnight hours on Thursday — a rate that officials described as almost impossible to outrun.
Unlike last year’s single catastrophic wave, this disaster has been building for three days. Relentless downpours have saturated the ground and pushed rivers steadily higher, with more rain still forecast for Thursday and overnight. In the community of Kerrville — one of the worst-hit areas — residents say floodwaters have kept rising with no end in sight.
Meteorologists say the disaster was driven by unusually slow-moving storms that dumped several inches of rain per hour over the region. Roughly one trillion gallons of water soaked the three hardest-hit counties over just three days. Uvalde County alone received more rainfall in that period than the entire state of California saw over the past month.
In Travis County, which includes Austin, local officials reported people stranded on barn rooftops and in trees. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed drones and helicopters were deployed to reach those trapped by rising water.
The Guadalupe River in the community of Comfort surpassed last year’s flood mark early Thursday, reaching 37 feet — a level not seen at that location since 1869. Experts warn that shallow limestone soil in the Hill Country cannot absorb water quickly, turning rainfall directly into fast-moving river surges.
Last summer’s Fourth of July floods killed more than 100 people in the same region. Officials are urging all residents near rivers and low-lying roads to move to higher ground immediately and avoid any travel through flooded areas.