Catastrophic flash floods have struck the Texas Hill Country for the second consecutive summer, killing at least two people and prompting more than 200 rescues by boat and helicopter, Governor Greg Abbott announced on Thursday. One victim was swept away while driving on a flooded road near Uvalde, while the other — 65-year-old John Mark Steward of Kerrville — died after his mobile home was lifted off its platform and carried down Goat Creek by surging waters. The Guadalupe River, which runs through the heart of the region, rose more than 30 feet in just a few hours in some locations, prompting the National Weather Service in San Antonio to issue urgent warnings: "CATASTROPHIC flooding is occurring. Move to higher ground now!"

The disaster strikes the same area devastated last July, when flash floods killed more than 130 people over the Fourth of July holiday, including 27 campers and counsellors at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp near Kerrville. That camp has not reopened and filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. The Texas Hill Country, a limestone-dominated landscape northwest of San Antonio, is particularly vulnerable to flash flooding because a thin layer of soil over the bedrock forces rainwater to rush rapidly downhill into narrow river valleys. This week, as much as 28 inches of rain fell over three days in Uvalde County alone.

Despite the severity of the floods, residents and officials noted that emergency response was markedly improved compared to last year. More than 2,000 first responders were deployed, and some evacuations began before the worst of the flooding hit. "Last year there was no warning," said Kerrville resident Josiah Rodriguez. "This year, a lot more alerts have gone into place." Governor Abbott echoed that sentiment, saying last year's tragedy had eliminated any room for complacency. Nonetheless, the Guadalupe near the site of Camp Mystic rose to approximately 20.5 feet, high enough to cause significant flooding, though it remained below the record levels recorded in 2025.

The human and economic toll is falling hardest on communities still rebuilding from last summer. In Ingram, Kerr County, Mayor Claud Jordan said the new flooding was actually more widespread than in 2025, damaging rural roads throughout the area. "There are a bunch of businesses that haven't reopened from last year," he said. "This doesn't help." At one local animal rescue near Ingram, staff evacuated dozens of animals to higher ground in the dark before flooding destroyed several of their enclosures. Roughly 6 million Texans were under flood watches this week, with the threat expected to persist into Friday as rivers in some areas were forecast to reach historic levels.