Flash Flood in Kerr County, Texas

There was catastrophic and deadly flash flooding along the Guadalupe River after around ten inches of rain fell in approximately four hours over the headwaters of the river. The flood wave moved downstream from Kerrville to the Kendall County line. In Kerrville, most of the homes on Loop 13 were flooded, debris damaged the guardrail on the G St. bridge, and an apartment complex and cottages along G St. E. were damaged or destroyed by flood water. Water reached 6.5 feet inside the Center Point VFD station on Kelly St. 700 feet from the river. Ten people died in the flooding along this part of the river, and one was still missing. Most of the fatalities were people in homes that were flooded. One person was a vehicle that it is believed was swept off a bridge in Center Point. The vehicle was found a few miles downstream of the bridge. Across Kerr County damage to public property and infrastructure was estimated to be $200 million. There was no damage estimate for private property. County officials estimated 2,000 structures were damaged.

Flood waters swept a truck off FM 1340 resulting in a fatality. A local resident of Hunt was headed home from a local school board meeting when he tried to cross a low water crossing. By the time rescuers responded he was apparently swept downstream and drowned. His body was discovered several days later about a mile downstream at another low water crossing.

The extremely heavy rainfall associated with the remains of Tropical Storm Erin moved into Kerr County in the afternoon. A general 3 to 5 inch rainfall was indicated across the northeast part of the county, with up to 8 inches falling north of Center Point. Most roads and bridges in northeast Kerr County were closed due to flash flooding. Two women were turning onto Town Creek Road when their vehicle became stalled in high water, then swept into Town Creek and finally lodged in some trees about 50 years from the bridge and 30 yards from the banks of the creek. Fire and rescue personnel were only able to get them to safety by forming a human chain in the flood waters and then pulling them to safety.