KERR COUNTY, Texas — At one point, more than a dozen RVs sat on a lot along the Guadalupe River. Nine months after the flood, the Kerr County resort is still vacant.
Centuries-old trees once covered this Hill Country RV park.
“Where you see that stump, that was a 400-year-old Cyprus tree that went down the river,” said David Chambers at Guadalupe Keys RV Resort.
Chambers says that the tree, along with about a dozen RVs, was all swept down the river in July’s flood.
“Five RVs over there, and you can see the remnants of the pads here,” Chambers said. “We had five here.”
He’s the co-owner of the Guadalupe Keys RV Resort in Center Point, Texas, and still is in disbelief that 30 feet of water came through this area.
“Saddest thing there is, a Vietnam veteran asked us, brand new RV, asked us if he could stay here to take his cancer treatments,” Chambers said. “He brought his RV here on the 3rd, and it went down the river.”
All 25 people staying on July 4 evacuated. But nine months post-flood, only a few RVs remain on the property.
“Everything happens for a reason, but our problem is we don’t know what to do,” Chambers said. “Nobody’s given us any directions.”
Guadalupe Keys got early relief from local chambers of commerce and the bank, but that was just enough for cleanup. The rest of the assistance came from LiftFund.
“We got 50k on a grant,” Chambers said. “Everybody wants us to borrow money but at a low interest rate. FEMA, small business, and we’ve all told them we have no business.”
In January, the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country gave $10 million to the LiftFund, enabling the San Antonio-based lender to assist with small business recovery.
Of the $10 million, $7.4 million has already been distributed.
“It’s really important to help a community when they’ve been struck with disaster,” said Alma Valdez Brown, LiftFund vice president of micro lending.
Valdez Brown says grant funding has been depleted, but the LiftFund is still offering small business loans.
“They are at no interest, so there’s a 0% interest for businesses that were affected. And so those loans are helping more long term. They’re up to half a million. And we still have funding for that,” said Valdez Brown.
With no revenue coming in, Chambers says recovery hasn’t been easy for Guadalupe Keys.
“After three years, we’re out of business, and I’m not the only one,” Chambers said.
He’s waiting for the county to tell them the next steps in the permit process before they invest in more RV rentals along the river.
“So, we’re just holding on to the money and making land payments and electrical,” Chambers said. “We’re watching our money real close because when that runs out, we still have no revenue coming in.”
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