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  • 7/9/2025
Central Texas, and more specifically the Hill Country region, are known for being prone to major floods. With one of the highest risks for flash flooding in the country, the area is referred to as the flash flood alley, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority. This is caused by a combination of steep hills and arid soil that water tends to run off quickly, funnelling water rapidly into rivers during rainstorms.

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The Guadalupe River and surrounding rivers in the region have flooded multiple times in recent decades, often with deadly consequences. This includes flooding in July 1987 that killed 10, flooding in October 1998 that killed 31, flooding in May 2015 on the nearby Blanco River that killed 13, and flooding just 3 weeks earlier in nearby San Antonio that killed 13.

Kerr County lacked a flood warning system. In 2016, the then-sheriff of Kerr County advocated for such a system, including sirens. In 2016, a county commissioner noted that Kerr County was "probably the highest risk area in the state for flooding". Discussions about funding and constructing a system continued on and off until at least 2021. The current Kerr County judge, Rob Kelly, said that the lack of a warning system was due to its high cost and claimed that residents were resistant to the idea for that reason.

According to CNN, intense rainfall across the United States has greatly intensified in recent years due to global warming, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. According to Climate Central, San Antonio rainfall intensity has increased by 6% since 1970 while Austin's has risen by 19%, meaning that more rain is falling in a given hour now than it was decades ago.

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Transcript
00:00From July 4 to 6, 2025, a large and devastating flood event took place in and downstream from
00:11the Texas Hill Country, in the U.S. state of Texas. During the flood, water levels along
00:17the Guadalupe River rose quickly and significantly when 5 to 11 inches, 130 to 280 millimeters,
00:24of rain fell in just a few hours. As a result, at least 82 people died, with at least 41 reported
00:32missing. Flooding began on July 4, after large amounts of rain fell on central Texas.
00:39Six flash flood emergencies, which included the cities of Kerrville and Mason, were issued the
00:44same day. The Guadalupe River surged an estimated 29 feet 8.8 meters in the Hunt area, where over 20
00:51children were declared missing from a summer camp. A total of 25 people died on July 4,
00:57with search and rescue operations still underway. July 5 saw more flash flood emergencies and flood
01:04warnings over the Lake Travis area which is part of the Colorado River watershed. On July 6,
01:09the New York Times stated, Among all deadly flooding events in the United States, including those caused
01:15by levee failures, seasonal rains, and hurricanes, the Hill Country floods will most likely rank among
01:21the deadliest since 1925.
01:30Carl Jeter heard the screams early Friday morning as he was surveying the flood damage on the deck of
01:35his home in Center Point, Texas. When he went to investigate, he saw a young woman sitting in the
01:41branches of a tree above racing floodwaters. Mr. Jeter went to find help. Two boats from the fire
01:47departments in Burnie and Center Point arrived. Rescuers climbed up the tree and tossed the woman
01:53a life jacket that she put on before releasing her grip on the branches and dropping into a raft.
01:59Her survival story was even more remarkable than her rescue. She had been camping with her family in
02:04Ingram, 20 miles upriver when she was suddenly swept into the rising river before dawn and carried
02:09downstream for miles. She was dodging RVs and refrigerators and all kinds of things in the
02:15river, Mr. Jeter said. She crossed four dams and went under bridges to get here. Mr. Jeter, 70,
02:23said the flooding was the worst he had ever seen in the flood-prone region, and he was shocked the
02:28woman managed to survive the storm, which caused the Guadalupe River near his home to rise more than
02:3320 feet in less than two hours. Mr. Jeter said he brought the woman into his house and gave her hot
02:38chocolate and a shower before helping her telephone her family members. Then she went to a local
02:44hospital where she spent the night and remained on Saturday, he said. Chris Shadrock, spokesman for
02:50the city of Burnie, confirmed the woman had been rescued from a tree but said he had no information
02:55about her condition. He did not release her name. It wasn't clear what happened to her family members.
03:02At least 32 people died from the Central Texas floods and many more were missing, officials said
03:08Saturday morning. Rescuers from the city of Burnie rescued seven more individuals on Friday,
03:13according to Mr. Shadrock. On Saturday, water levels had lowered, though flash flood warnings were
03:20still in effect in some parts of Central Texas. Source, New York Times.
03:25She's up there. It's receded a lot. There's another boat. All right.
03:30Margaret. Jacket they're putting on her.
03:39For many Texans, the flooding on Friday surfaced memories of a deadly swelling of the waters along
04:04the Guadalupe River on July 17, 1987. The river rose 29 feet on that morning, sweeping away a
04:12school bus and a van that were carrying teenagers from a church camp southwest of Comfort, Texas,
04:17which is about 15 miles southeast of Kerrville. Ten of the teenagers were swept away and killed,
04:2333 others, and four adults, were rescued. Some of the survivors held on to the upper branches of
04:30cypress and pecan trees, praying until helicopters arrived to carry them to safety, the New York Times
04:36reported. At the time it was the worst flooding of the Guadalupe River in 55 years, the Times reported.
04:43Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge, said at a news conference on Friday morning that the flooding
04:48this time might exceed what took place in 1987, based on the waterline at his property along the river.
04:54As in Friday's flooding, in 1987, five to ten inches of rain fell in the upper headwaters of
05:01the Guadalupe River basin. In Hunt, Texas, where the Guadalupe River forks over seven inches had
05:08fallen since Thursday afternoon, which was the highest total at the site since the early 1990s,
05:14the rapid rainfall led to a fast rise of the river that accelerated to over 29 feet before sunrise on
05:20Friday, the second highest crest ever recorded. Still, it might have even gone higher. As the
05:26waters rose 20 feet in two hours, they flooded the instrument box that the U.S. Geological Survey
05:32uses to send river gauge data. The box stopped transmitting at 4.35 a.m. local time on Friday.
05:40In 1987, though, warnings were issued early in the morning to summer camps along the river,
05:45and it was unclear why the church vehicles crossed the swollen river. All but one body was recovered.
05:52More than a year later, a sheriff's deputy in Kendall County, Texas, said of the missing
05:57camper that a cresting river would create sandbars, and a body could end up buried,
06:01possibly until another big flood comes to turn things upside down again. New York Times
06:08I'm not going to make it. Man dies saving family from Texas Hill Country floodwaters.
06:20Through tears and shock, 27-year-old Julian Ryan's family members said the father,
06:25brother, and fiancé died a hero. Ingram, Texas, Christina Wilson and her fiancé, Julian Ryan,
06:32were at home in Ingram when the devastating floodwaters started to rise along the Guadalupe
06:37River in the early morning hours on Friday. They lived at their house near the river with their
06:42children and Ryan's mother. Everything happened fast, trees were thrown like toothpicks, and water
06:48quickly rose, leaving families with little time to comprehend what was happening. When the water
06:54started to rise, Ryan sprang into action, those actions ended up being the last of his life.
07:00Through tears and shock, the 27-year-old's family members said the father,
07:04brother, and fiancé died a hero. He died a hero, and that will never go unnoticed,
07:10Ryan's sister, Connie Salas, said. Wilson said that within 20 minutes,
07:16the water was up to their knees in the house. It just started pouring in,
07:20and we had to fight the door to get it close to make sure not too much got in.
07:24We went back to the room and started calling 911, Wilson said.
07:29That's when Wilson said her fiancé punched out a window to try to get her, their children,
07:34and his mother to safety. It severed his artery in his arm and almost cut it clean off, she said.
07:41Wilson said they kept calling 911, but no one could get to them in time to save him.
07:46By 6 a.m. he looked at me and the kids and my mother-in-law and said,
07:50I'm sorry, I'm not going to make it. I love y'all, Wilson said. She said his body wasn't
07:56recovered until hours later when the water receded. Now, loved ones are left with only
08:02memories of the man they call a hero. He is the hero in this story, Salas said.
08:08They're now left questioning the preparations and response to the catastrophic flooding.
08:13When they said my brother was dying, they should have went to him first.
08:17That's how I see it, Joseph Rounsley said. Ryan's best friend remembered his buddy as a gentle soul.
08:24He's the kindest person I've ever met in my life, and I'll forever love him no matter what,
08:29Chris Roberts said. Now, Wilson, Salas, Rounsley and Roberts stand together,
08:35saying more needs to be implemented to avoid anything like this from ever happening again.
08:40They believe flood sirens could have saved lives. Everybody would have been worried.
08:45What's that noise? Wilson said. We would have left. We would have gone anywhere else.
08:52We had so many places that were safe.

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