Third Person Confirmed Dead in Texas Floods, Nearly 1 Trillion Gallons of Rain Hit Three Counties

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed Friday that a third person has died in the flooding that's hammered the state for weeks. The victim, identified as 65-year-old John Mark Steward, was swept away Monday when his mobile home was pulled into the Guadalupe River, according to details reported by ground.news. A separate account, also confirmed by Abbott, said the death occurred when someone tried to drive through floodwaters in Val Verde County.

Abbott flew over Cotulla, a city about 90 miles southwest of San Antonio, to inspect damage firsthand. Parts of the city remain cut off from the outside world because of high water, the governor said.

The scale of the rainfall is staggering. Nearly 1 trillion gallons of water fell on the three hardest-hit counties over three days, according to ground.news. A trillion gallons in 72 hours.

More than 700 homes have been damaged statewide. Emergency crews have pulled off over 500 rescues since the flooding began. The Nueces River hit major flood stage at 29 feet, but Abbott said it has crested and should keep declining.

Areas near the Lake Corpus Christi reservoir will keep seeing water levels climb into early August. "Anyone living, working, commuting or just walking around areas downstream of the Nueces needs to be aware of possible dangers," Abbott said, according to the Associated Press, whose reporting was carried by the New York Post, The Independent and Newsday.

Water Still Rising Near Corpus Christi

The crest in one spot doesn't mean the danger has passed for the whole watershed. People in the Corpus Christi area have another week or two of rising water to deal with, even as the immediate crisis in Cotulla and points north starts to ease.

Bertha Landed, But Didn't Add to the Damage

Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall Thursday. That's a fact every outlet in this cycle flagged, and for good reason: it could have made a bad situation worse. It didn't. Abbott said state officials have received no new reports of flooded homes or businesses tied specifically to Bertha. The flooding damage on the books is still from the rain that pounded Central Texas for several days the prior week.

Federal and State Relief Now Moving

Abbott has issued a disaster declaration covering 59 counties. He's requested federal disaster assistance for 33 of those counties, according to The Independent and Newsday. Ground.news reported that federal relief has opened for 28 counties, a number that reflects how the request has started converting into actual approved aid on the ground.

Officials are directing donations to RebuildTx.org, a state-sponsored relief fund run through the OneStar Foundation. That's a legitimate, state-backed channel, not some GoFundMe knockoff, and it's worth naming because scam fundraisers tend to crop up after disasters like this.

A Cotulla Mom's Story

The New York Post's broader coverage included an account of a Cotulla mother battling cancer who described floodwaters entering her neighborhood, telling the paper that the flood took things from her family they'd already been struggling to hold onto. Whole families are dealing with property loss stacked on top of existing hardship.

What's Actually Unresolved

The most concrete open question is how bad it gets downstream. Abbott's own statement makes clear the Nueces cresting at 29 feet doesn't mean the threat is over. Lake Corpus Christi reservoir levels are expected to keep rising into early August, which means the disaster declaration and rescue operations aren't close to finished business.

There's also the practical matter of the 700-plus damaged homes and how fast the RebuildTx.org fund and federal assistance for those 28 to 33 counties actually reach people. Disaster declarations are the easy part. Getting money and rebuilding materials to a family in La Salle County whose road is still washed out is the part that takes months, not days.