KERR COUNTY — Alicia Baker can’t bring herself to clean her daughter’s bedroom. Eleven-year-old Madelyn “Emmy” Jeffrey left a pile of craft supplies on the floor in their San Antonio home before heading off to the Guadalupe River with her grandparents, where they drowned in the flood last Fourth of July. A year later, the […]
Month: July 2026
Hunt Preservation Society’s recovery progress, a year after July 4 flood devastated community
HUNT, Texas – Before the July 4 flood, the Hunt Preservation Society was already an established local nonprofit. So when disaster hit, money was able to pour in immediately. The group quickly created a committee to help allocate those recovery funds to community members. “Our focus has been here in Hunt and Ingram, really the Hunt (Independent […]
One year after the July 4 floods, what are the lessons learned?
One year after catastrophic flooding tore through the Texas Hill Country, communities along the Guadalupe River are preparing to honor those who died while confronting the long work of recovery. The July 4, 2025, disaster killed 139 people across Texas, including 119 in Kerr County. Two Kerr County victims have not been recovered. The commemoration […]
Childhood trauma and grief expert talks about continual mental health recovery a year after July 2025 floods
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Healing takes time, physically, mentally, and emotionally. A year after flash flooding ravaged Central Texas and the Hill Country, people are still working to rebuild their communities and heal from the tragic loss of more than 130 people. Dr. Julie Kaplow, executive director of the trauma and grief center at the Meadows […]
One year after Kerr County floods, grants help families heal beyond the damage
KERR COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — One year after devastating flooding swept through Kerr County, many families are still working to rebuild their lives — both physically and emotionally. While homes and infrastructure can be repaired, the emotional toll of that day continues to linger. Now, a network of nonprofits, backed by millions in grant funding, […]
A year after the flood, Kerr County rebuilds one day at a time
KERRVILLE, Texas (Nexstar) — Mark Armstrong has been serving the Hill Country for decades. His Kerrville restaurant, the Lakehouse, has overlooked the Guadalupe River since 1988. Well, it usually overlooks the Guadalupe River. But for a couple of hours on the morning of July 4, 2025, the river rose more than 20 feet into the […]
Flood-ravaged Texas Hill Country home rebuilt after first responder’s devastating loss
A century-old family home along the Guadalupe River was nearly lost in a devastating flood, but a San Antonio police officer and his wife are finally back home thanks to a community effort that rebuilt more than a house — it restored a piece of their family’s history. A century-old family home swept away […]
The Lead Live’s Fifth Annual Nonprofit Week starts Aug. 14 with record 64 organizations across six days
The biggest Nonprofit Week in The Lead Live’s history begins Aug. 14 — and this year it runs six days. Demand for this year’s event was so strong that The Kerr County Lead expanded the broadcast to include Friday, Aug. 14, adding a full first day to what had been a Monday-through-Friday event. Combined with […]
Editorial: A year later, the hardest comment to hear
By the time Juliet Weldon reached the lectern at Monday’s Kerr County Commissioners Court meeting, the question she carried was nearly a year old. She asked it the way her neighbors have been asking it since the Guadalupe came up on July 4: What do we do now? Where do we go? Who do we […]
After historic floods, Texas Hill Country Little League is back
There’s nothing more quintessential to being a kid than playing Little League baseball, but on July Fourth, 2025, along with so much more, the Little League fields of Hill Country were destroyed, along with the innocence of thousands of kids who live here. With so much else to rebuild, a baseball season in 2026 seemed […]