The economic health of Kerr County depends on many things, but the most important step victims of the most recent flood can do is report property damage to the Texas Division of Emergency Management iSTAT website, according to Todd Bock, executive director of the Kerr Economic Development Corporation, regardless of whether the property owner needs financial assistance.
“Reporting your damage is extremely important, because it unlocks state and federal resources that we currently do not have,” Bock said. “The damage assessments are how we get the declarations of disaster to maximize the resources at the state and federal level.”
Bock is estimating the individual and business physical damage from the July 16 flood will exceed the numbers from last year’s flood.
Bock urges every business owner and resident affected by the recent flooding to fill out two damage-reporting forms, even those who don’t plan to seek assistance, because the numbers they generate will determine how much state and federal disaster funding reaches Kerr County
The reporting sites for the damage reports are: Texas Division of Emergency Management’s iSTAT damage assessment survey, available at https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/344d59d323fd47b3bab8e8cd60b64585?field:incident_id=26-0019%2012JUL%20Severe%20Weather, as well as the RebuildKerr.org intake form at https://forms.connectivetx.org/376.
“Whether or not your are physically are going to take advantage of the resource available, we need to get your damage report into the system in order to get resources out to your neighbors,” Bock said. “Whether you plan on seeking assistance or not, help your neighbor.”
Bock said damage reports feed into decisions on whether to unlock aid from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Texas governor’s Disaster Unemployment Assistance program and a Texas Workforce Commission Department of Labor grant that helps pay displaced workers during recovery. He said that grant brought $890,000 to the area last year.
As of the interview, President Donald Trump had signed a deployment of public assistance, which helps cities, counties and municipalities pay for damage to infrastructure and facilities, Bock said. However, no additional federal resources for individuals or businesses had been unlocked as of yet.
“We’re gonna need to get FEMA in here,” Bock said. “People are gonna have to go through the FEMA process. This is going to be a community-led recovery and a community-funded recovery this time.”
Bock said Kerr County is not likely to see the level of philanthropic funding it received after the 2025 flood and will instead need to rely more heavily on state and federal dollars.
Business damage has also been undercounted, Bock said. A public RebuildKerr.org dashboard showed 90 businesses affected as of today, however, local officials estimate it could be much higher based on street-level surveys conducted by Kerr Together staff and partner organizations. Bock said those groups are combining their data with the state’s to make sure every affected business is counted.
Residents and business owners who complete the iSTAT form can expect a follow-up property assessment, Bock said, though he said it isn’t yet clear which agency will conduct it first.
The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has launched the Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Fund to serve its 10 service area counties affected by the recent flood, including Uvalde and Boerne.
Business owners seeking immediate relief funding can currently apply through the Kerrville Chamber Foundation and Lift Fund, Bock said, though he cautioned that those funds are limited.
Residents can also get cleanup supplies, including shovels, muck-out buckets and cleaning materials, and connect with volunteer cleanup crews through the Kerr Together intake process at the disaster relief center at 98 Coronado Drive, Bock said.
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