(The Center Square) – Thousands of personnel and volunteers from across Texas have come to assist with recovery efforts and debris removal in Kerr County and surrounding areas in response to the historic July 4 flood.
After a torrential downpour caused the Guadeloupe River to rise 26 feet in 45 minutes early Friday morning, a tidal wave of destruction crashed through Kerr and surrounding counties.
Before that happened, the state was monitoring weather patterns and Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Division of Emergency Management moved assets into Central Texas on Wednesday. Additional resources were surged on Thursday; weather warnings were issued both days.
By Friday, more than 1,500 personnel and more than 925 vehicles and equipment assets across 20 state agencies were in emergency response mode.
TDEM deployed an incident management team to support deployed emergency response resources, including multiple task forces, and continues to oversee recovery efforts.
More than 850 people were rescued in the initial hours of operations, the majority by the Texas Military Department. Texas National Guard rescued 525 people, 366 by air evacuations conducted by UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilots and crew, and 159 by ground. Another 20 were rescued in San Sabo County and five in Burnet County, Texas Military Department Adjutant General Major General Thomas Suelzer said Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Ben Baker with Texas Game Wardens said 300 game wardens have been involved in recovery efforts. They’ve searched 26 river miles, made 440 rescues and recovered 30 dead bodies.
Texas Department of Public Safety’s Special Operations Group “continues to work alongside local and state partners with ongoing rescue and recovery efforts in the Texas Hill Country, including searching through debris and storm damaged areas. Our teams will be in Kerr County to assist as long as we are needed,” Texas DPS said.
Texas DPS Colonel Director Freeman Martin said 258 DPS troopers were assigned in Kerrville alone, including highway patrol, a tactical marine unit, criminal investigators, Texas Rangers, SWAT, victim’s services, among others.
After members of the public were given a number to call to report missing people, hundreds of calls came in, he said at a news conference on Tuesday. Through painstaking work, DPS troopers working with others in law enforcement, cross checked names with trailer parks, RV camps, hotels and other rental properties, with the calls that came in and arrived at a total of 161 missing in Kerr County alone, he said.
“A lot of work is being done,” Martin said. Most of what they were able to do is because DPS was fulling funded by the Texas legislature, he said. Funding enabled DPS to acquire six replacement helicopters, which are being used for recovery efforts, he said.
“We have a lot of resources,” he said, in addition to the assistance they are receiving from the FBI, DEA, Border Patrol, Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security and others. “Everyone is working together, unified,” he said.
Search and rescue efforts are ongoing in Burnet, Kendall and Travis counties, he said. All three missing in Williamson County were recovered, deceased. Ten are confirmed missing in Travis County.
Multiple teams from several Texas A&M System agencies are also actively involved in recovery efforts as part of the 20-state agency effort.
“As we struggle to grasp the magnitude of the loss felt by so many of our fellow Texans – and even as we all offer up our prayers for the victims and their families and the parents, friends and loved ones of those still missing – the brave men and women from across the Texas A&M University System were risking their lives to save others caught in dangerous flooding across Central Texas and the Hill Country,” the Texas A&M University System said.
They include Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service task forces using swiftwater rescue boats to assist with flood rescues and evacuations and a Public Works Response Team assessing and assisting with public works infrastructure needs in Kerrville.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agents are supporting agricultural and livestock needs; a Veterinary Emergency Team is providing veterinary medical support for animals impacted by flooding.
More than 75 Texas A&M Forest Service personnel and 153 Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System members are on the ground. Saw teams are clearing debris and restoring access in impacted areas; overhead personnel are working alongside local officials on damage assessments and incident coordination.
Abbott said on Tuesday, “Texas will not stop until we finish the job. We will not stop until we identify, recover every single body. Will not stop until every road is rebuilt, every inch of debris is removed.
“We will not stop because we are a state that cares about our people, cares about our communities, and we’ll be with them every step of the way.”
