Texas Hill Country Floods Again: 2 Dead, 200+ Rescued One Year After Camp Mystic Disaster

Since the Camp Mystic disaster killed more than 100 people over the July Fourth holiday last year, the Texas Hill Country has flooded again. Catastrophic flash floods struck the region Thursday, killing at least two people and forcing more than 200 rescues, Gov. Greg Abbott said, according to the Associated Press.

Rescuers using boats and helicopters pulled stranded drivers and people trapped in homes to safety. Abbott said the hardest-hit areas are expecting more rain into Friday, with some rivers forecast to hit historic levels. The state isn't out of danger yet.

The same river, one year later

The National Weather Service said a large wave barreled down the Guadalupe River on Thursday, the same waterway that destroyed Camp Mystic last summer and killed two dozen children and counselors. Some stretches of the Guadalupe rose more than 30 feet in hours, per the weather service.

As much as 28 inches of rain fell over three days in Uvalde County, which was largely spared last year, the weather service said. Other areas saw roughly a foot of rain.

One victim was swept away while driving on a flooded road near Uvalde. The other died in Kerr County, Abbott said.

Jennie Steward told the Associated Press her husband, 65-year-old John Mark Steward of Kerrville, was found dead Thursday. She was visiting her parents when a neighbor called overnight to say water had risen to the door of their mobile home. The entire home was swept off its platform and floated down Goat Creek on the Guadalupe. Steward and her husband had spoken by phone the night before to celebrate their third wedding anniversary.

"It's really hard that I wasn't there with him," she said.

More warning this time, but still deadly

Last year, residents said they got no warning before the Guadalupe overtopped its banks, and local officials faced sharp criticism for how slowly they responded. This time, forecasters issued urgent alerts, "Move to higher ground now!" as rivers rose hour by hour, according to the weather service.

Josiah Rodriguez, who woke up to heavy rain around 2 a.m. Thursday in Kerrville, said the difference was noticeable. "Last year there was no warning of it," he told the Associated Press. "It just kind of happened overnight and it took everyone by surprise. This year, a lot more alerts have gone into place, a lot more safety measures." He navigated flooded roads overnight to help evacuate relatives.

Abbott said more than 2,000 first responders were deployed and some evacuations began before the worst flooding hit. "What happened last year was a warning to people on or near rivers," Abbott said. "No one can be complacent."

Warning systems clearly improved since last year's failure, and Rodriguez's account backs that up. But two people are still dead, and the region got hit again inside 12 months. Better alerts reduced the death toll compared to last year's catastrophe, though they didn't prevent fatalities entirely.

What's still unresolved

The floods hit Uvalde County hardest this time, an area that was largely spared in 2025. That's a reminder that flash flooding in Hill Country isn't confined to one river valley or one set of towns. It can shift with each storm system.

Abbott's office hasn't detailed what specific infrastructure or alert-system upgrades were made since last year's flood, beyond the governor's general statement that people had been warned. A state investigator has previously found that Camp Mystic relied on teen counselors with no emergency training before last year's flood, according to PBS. Whether camps and riverside communities in the path of Thursday's flooding had implemented any new emergency protocols since that finding hasn't been detailed publicly.

Rivers in the hardest-hit counties are still expected to climb into Friday. The death toll could rise as search operations continue, and the full scope of property damage, including how many homes were swept away like the Stewards' mobile home, remains unclear. Texas emergency officials have not yet released a count of structures destroyed or a damage estimate.