Heavy rains in Texas pause search efforts

GUADALUPE RIVER

Evacuations, home damage elsewhere amid new deluge

An EMT crew sits on the back of an ambulance while waiting in the parking lot of a Walmart as severe storms forced all search and recovery crews to leave the banks of the Guadalupe River on Sunday in Kerrville, Texas. JIM VONDRUSKA — GETTY IMAGES

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By Gabriela Aoun

Associated Press

KERRVILLE, Texas >> More heavy rains in Texas on Sunday temporarily paused a weeklong search for victims of catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River and led to dozens of high-water rescues elsewhere as storms damaged homes, stranded motorists and put some residents under evacuation orders.

It was the first time a new round of severe weather had paused the search since the July Fourth holiday floods, which killed at least 132 people. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County alone, and 10 more in neighboring areas.

In Kerrville, where local officials have come under scrutiny over whether residents were adequately warned about the rising water in the early morning hours of July 4, authorities went door-to-door to some homes after midnight early Sunday to alert people that flooding was again possible. Authorities also pushed phone alerts to those in the area.

By late Sunday afternoon, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office announced that search teams in the western part of that county could resume their efforts. But more than 100 miles north in San Saba County, the floods damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a local nonprofit.

“Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,” she said. “Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.”

Homes damaged

Gov. Greg Abbott said on X that the state was making rescues in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties and that evacuations were taking place in a handful of others. Texas Task Force 1, a joint state and federal urban search and rescue team, had rescued dozens of people in the Lampasas area, Abbott said.

County officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate. Johnson said people were being moved to the San Saba Civic Center, which has become a safe, high place for people to receive aid and shelter.

The weather system brought multiple rounds of heavy rains and slow-moving storms across a widespread area, pushing rivers and streams over their banks.

Kerrville supported

Under heavy rain, Matthew Stone was clearing branches and a log from a storm sewer in front of his home on Guadalupe Street in Kerrville on Sunday as several inches of water pooled up on the road.

Multiple houses on the street overlooking the Guadalupe River were severely impacted by the July 4 floods, and Stone had to pull his older neighbors from their home before water overtook it. He said he felt safe for now.

“My wife was freaking out, that’s for sure, but as long as that river is not coming down, we’ll be all right,” he said. “The cops have been coming back and forth, we’re getting lots of alerts, we’re getting a lot of support.”

In nearby Ingram, fire department spokesman Brian Lochte said search and rescue efforts would resume Monday morning.