Flooding Impacts Texas Hill Country as West Virginia Deals with Historic Flooding

By Noah Patton, NLIHC Director of Disaster Recovery

A year after catastrophic flooding impacted the Texas Hill Country, killing over 100 people, days of heavy rain again brought flash flood emergencies to Kerrville, Hunt, Uvalde, and Knippa, Texas. Officials confirmed that at least two people have died as a result of the current flooding, with emergency responders performing rescues for 230 people.   

Up to 20 inches of rain fell in two days over the Uvalde area – more than six months’ worth of rain for the area. Other areas of the region received between 6 and 16 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. Rivers rapidly rose in hours to record flood levels, cutting off bridges and flooding towns and neighborhoods across the area. Much of the region, West of San Antonio within the Colorado and Guadalupe River basins, remains highly vulnerable to flood events, with steep terrain, shallow soil, and recurring high rainfall events brought by moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.  

Unlike last year's flooding event, where authorities were challenged by the failure of the region’s flash flood warning systems, sirens and alerts were effectively issued. In addition, this most recent flood event occurred during daylight hours, allowing for an easier and quicker evacuation of residents from the impacted area. The President has approved an emergency declaration for the region, allowing federal assistance to impacted state and local governments. Further damage assessments are ongoing.  

Elsewhere, all 55 counties of West Virginia remained under a state of emergency after severe thunderstorms brought 5 to 7 inches of rainfall to central and northern parts of the state. Floods killed two and damaged homes and businesses throughout the region as rivers rose to record levels. The National Guard was deployed, and first responders said they received hundreds of calls for assistance. Lewis, Randolph, and Upshur counties were the hardest hit, receiving rare “Particularly Dangerous Situation” warnings from the National Weather Service on Tuesday, July 21.    

On Thursday, July 23, officials were continuing to wait for the waters to recede before setting up supply distribution areas to serve evacuated residents and those in areas where utility service had been knocked out by the storm.

NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery, Research, and Resilience team will continue to work with community-based partners in these and other impacted areas to support recovery efforts. Learn more about our work.