Tag Archives: Guadalupe River

Replanting the trees lost in the Kerrville flood

Posted on July 11, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good work. As Michael Eason drove along the banks of the Guadalupe River late last summer, amid places he had worked and photographed over the years, he couldn’t help but be moved by the devastation. “Depending on where you were … Continue reading →

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The Kerrville floods, one year later

Posted on July 5, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This is a hard read, and it leads off with the story of three of the flood’s victims, so skip on by if that’s not how you want to start your day. But it’s worth your time if you can … Continue reading →

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The Camp Mystic report

Posted on June 19, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Tough to read. Camp Mystic did not have state-required written emergency plans or adequate evacuation measures that could have prevented the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors in last year’s July 4 flood, state-appointed investigators told the state lawmakers … Continue reading →

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The Kerrville Folk Festival and the Kerrville flood

Posted on June 14, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Great story. The Kerrville Folk Festival is known for its music. But in the aftermath of last year’s tragic Fourth of July flooding, it became something else entirely. Deb Rouse runs the Kerrville Folk Festival, an 18-day music festival held … Continue reading →

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Will the Camp Mystic lawsuits be heard by an arbitrator instead of a judge?

Posted on June 12, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

A big question for a judge to answer. More than a dozen families are suing the all-girls Christian summer camp after last July’s catastrophic Hill Country flood tore through its grounds, killing 27 campers and counselors. The families allege camp … Continue reading →

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A brief history of failing to pass flood protection laws

Posted on May 8, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

We just do our thing here and don’t much care about the consequences. The sound of construction machinery filled the air as Kylie Nidever walked past properties ravaged months earlier by floodwaters. Nidever’s home was among those in her Bumble … Continue reading →

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Camp Mystic will not reopen this summer

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Probably for the best. Camp Mystic on Thursday said it has withdrawn its application for an operating license, a decision that means it will not reopen to campers this summer. The decision follows a grueling hearing earlier this week when Texas lawmakers … Continue reading →

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Camp Mystic again ordered to not touch flood-damaged cabins

Posted on April 18, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This is always so hard to read about. A state district judge has ordered Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ camp where 27 people died during last summer’s deadly flood in the Texas Hill Country, not to alter, demolish, repair or … Continue reading →

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DPS and Rangers investigating Camp Mystic

Posted on April 12, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Okay. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Tuesday that the Texas Rangers have launched a criminal investigation into Camp Mystic, where 25 campers and two counselors were killed during a catastrophic flash flood on July 4. And the Texas Department of … Continue reading →

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Camp Mystic ordered to not touch flood-damaged cabins

Posted on March 7, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Basically, an order to preserve evidence while litigation proceeds. Camp Mystic cannot alter its property by the Guadalupe River where 27 girls and the camp’s executive director died last summer, so that evidence can be preserved while a lawsuit proceeds, … Continue reading →

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Camp Mystic parents sue Texas over the lack of evacuation plans at the camp

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Texas health officials failed to follow state law when they licensed Camp Mystic without making sure it had an evacuation plan, parents of nine children and counselors who died in the July 4 flood allege in a new … Continue reading →

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Fifth lawsuit filed against Camp Mystic

Posted on February 11, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This one goes a little farther. The family of an 8-year-old girl who remains missing after being swept away by Hill Country flooding that struck Camp Mystic last summer is suing its owners and demanding a judge prevent its reopening. … Continue reading →

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The effect of the Kerrville flood on the riparian areas

Posted on January 17, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

The bad news is that the massive flooding on July 4 of the Guadalupe River did a lot of environmental damage to the river and its immediate surrounding area, the riparian area. The good news is that this was still … Continue reading →

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Camp Mystic wants the lawsuits against it moved to Kerr County

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Attorneys for Camp Mystic, the Texas Hill Country retreat where 25 children and two counselors were killed in a flash flood on July 4, are trying to move four lawsuits against the camp from Travis County to Kerr County, … Continue reading →

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Why Kerr County turned down state flood grant money

Posted on December 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Three weeks after flash floods in Texas’ Hill Country killed more than 100 people, state lawmakers chastised Kerr County leaders for rejecting money a year earlier to create a warning system that could have alerted residents to rapidly … Continue reading →

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Camp Mystic’s reopening

Posted on December 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I dunno, man. The owners of an all-girls summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, where 25 campers and two teenage counselors died in catastrophic July 4 flooding, announced plans on Tuesday for new safety upgrades that will be in place when … Continue reading →

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Taking care of next summer’s campers

Posted on November 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib raises some important points. Texas officials are requiring youth camps to have weather alert systems, mandated emergency preparedness plans, and various communication methods to help children and their families feel safe when they return this summer. But one thing is … Continue reading →

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There are four lawsuits against Camp Mystic

Posted on November 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Updating the count. The Houston family of 9-year-old Ellen Getten, who died when floodwaters overwhelmed Camp Mystic on July 4, is suing the private Christian girls’ summer camp, saying it and its operators are guilty of “gross negligence.” Their lawsuit, filed … Continue reading →

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Two lawsuits filed against Camp Mystic

Posted on November 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to be rough. The families of six campers and two counselors who died in the July floods at Camp Mystic in Hunt, west of Kerrville, filed two separate lawsuits suing the the camp and members of the … Continue reading →

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IPAWS

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an informative story about an underutilized tool in the emergency response arsenal. In the fall of 2016, as wind-stoked wildfires raced across parched forest and threatened lives around Gatlinburg, Tennessee, state and local officials went back and forth about … Continue reading →

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Another Kerrville flooding lawsuit filed

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them luck. The family of a man killed in the July 4 floods in Central Texas has sued the RV park where he and his wife were staying, alleging the campground’s owners knowingly placed its guests in an … Continue reading →

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Lege fails to pass disaster emergency response bill

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

What a bunch of jokers. Efforts to overhaul local emergency response to disasters failed after the Texas Senate concluded its business early Thursday without taking up the House’s version of a bill that would have mandated new training and licensing … Continue reading →

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We have been so lucky to avoid hurricanes so far

Posted on September 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Because the response would be the bigger disaster. Employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrote to Congress on Monday warning that the Trump administration had reversed much of the progress made in disaster response and recovery since Hurricane Katrina … Continue reading →

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Camps oppose floodplain restriction

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I gotta say, I’m not sure who they think will be sympathetic to this. Leaders of three Kerr County youth camps wrote to Texas House lawmakers Friday opposing legislation that would prohibit the state from licensing camps with cabins in … Continue reading →

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What the Lege has done since redistricting

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Just a couple of headlines to ponder, now that the redistricting bill has been signed. Texas House greenlights ‘bounty hunter’ abortion pill ban Texas House OKs transgender bathroom ban after years of GOP attempts Yep, definitely doing the hard work … Continue reading →

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First Kerrville flooding lawsuit filed

Posted on August 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Sure to be joined by many others. In the weeks since devastating floods hit Central Texas, killing 119 people in Kerr County — including 39 children — much has been made of various investigations, legislative proposals, and potential lawsuits over what went wrong in the early morning hours of … Continue reading →

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Still no quorum

Posted on August 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sitting here waiting for the Supreme Court to take up those ridiculous quo warranto actions by Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton and have been hesitant to start writing something for fear that I’ll have to trash it and start … Continue reading →

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Checking in on Kerrville

Posted on August 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Public Radio sent a reporter to Kerrville to talk to some residents there about how they’re doing after the flood. The next person I spoke to, Jess, had been slowly moving along the memorial, reading every notice. When she … Continue reading →

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Hill Country flood hearings

Posted on August 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Brutal. Kerr County’s emergency management coordinator acknowledged Thursday that he was ill and asleep when rain inundated the Hill Country community early July 4. Will Thomas told lawmakers during a legislative hearing in Kerrville that his wife woke him at … Continue reading →

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The Lege goes to Kerrville

Posted on July 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Well, just some of them. The Texas Legislature’s special session will journey west to Kerrville this week, sending lawmakers to the seat of the most devastated county of the July 4 floods. The two special committees weighing the legislative response … Continue reading →

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The flood hearings

Posted on July 25, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. The Texas House and Senate quickly established special committees to focus on relief efforts and determine what preparations the state must make to be better prepared for future natural disasters. Now, these panels of state lawmakers are … Continue reading →

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The flood insurance problem

Posted on July 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is only going to get worse unless we take steps to mitigate it. Less than 5% of residential properties in high-risk areas in Kerr County were covered by flood insurance before the July 4 storm, according to a Houston … Continue reading →

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The long haul of recovery

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We only really have a best guess as to how many people are still missing from the Hill Country floods. More than 10 days after catastrophic July Fourth floods along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, the official death toll … Continue reading →

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There’s still flooding in the Hill Country

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It keeps raining. Emergency crews suspended their search for victims of catastrophic flooding in Central Texas on Sunday morning amid new warnings that additional rain would again cause waterways to surge. It was the first time a new round of … Continue reading →

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