(The Center Square) – Seven weeks after flash floods ripped through Hunt and Ingram in Kerr County, recovery and rebuilding efforts are ongoing.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott returned to the area Saturday as he has repeatedly done since July 4. This time, it was to hand out checks directly to survivors through money raised by Country Music legend George Strait and Vaqueros del Mar partner Tom Cusick. Nearly one month ago, they raised $7 million through a “Strait To The Heart” concert – with one caveat – that the money be given directly to those impacted.
Two weeks ago, Abbott and Cusick handed out $25,000 checks to several dozen survivors. On Saturday, the second round of checks was distributed to those who lost their homes or suffered other losses.
“We want to make sure that when you leave here today that you feel that every need you have is being met,” Abbott told roughly 75 people at an invite-only event in Ingram. “This is the worst flood in the history of Texas as it concerns the loss of life. We’re still working to address those concerns as well as continuing to search for two remaining people who are still lost,” he said.
The July 4 flash flood disaster claimed at least 137 lives in several counties. Kerr County suffered the most losses of 108. Two remain missing.
“We know the magnitude of the devastation that has occurred to this community,” Abbott said. “Part of it is physical devastation because of damages to your homes or vehicle or property … or loss of loved ones or injured loved ones. We know that those are challenges that don’t go away just because it’s a new week or a new month.
“There are challenges, mental and emotional, maybe physical, that exist for a long time. I say all this because in addition to helping you rebuild your homes, we want to help you rebuild your lives. … Know that there are resources available for you as we help you personally, individually. We want to make sure that you know you have support here. You don’t have to go looking for it. You don’t have to go paying for it and it is available for you constantly as you go through the process of rebuilding your lives.”
Abbott and Texas Department of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said they wanted everyone there to tell them exactly what their needs were and how they could help them.
After survivors met Vaqueros del Mar representatives who handed them checks, they waited to meet the governor. As they waited, several remarked that they didn’t realize the governor wanted to hear from them. “He is listening to us,” several said, The Center Square exclusively observed from behind-the-scenes.
Abbott shook their hands, held their hands, looked them directly in the eye, and listened to their every word. He hugged many. He asked them questions. He listened as they described through tears everything they lost. One woman, shaking and sobbing, described how she survived by opening her car doors. As the water rushed in, she lost her dog. Abbott, who has three dogs, empathized. She was distraught and he comforted her.
Another described climbing up to his attic to survive; another said she would be dead if she had been home. She lost everything. Others showed the governor pictures of devastation on their phones. Still visibly shaken, they spoke with tears streaming down their faces.
One by one, they came. Many held manila folders stuffed with examples of bureaucracy. One woman explained the difficulty Home Association members were having with FEMA. Exasperated, she handed a folder to Kidd, saying, “Tell Kristi Noem!,” referring to the Department of Homeland Security secretary who oversees FEMA. Kidd said he would.
For roughly two hours, Abbott greeted everyone, Kidd next to him scrawling notes on a notepad, connecting survivors with a TDEM liaison to ensure they had what they needed. Toward the end, an elderly man told the governor, “You waited to talk with me. You did exactly what you said you were going to do.”
Just outside the school auditorium where the meeting was held, large black debris removal trucks lined the Guadalupe River. Familiar to those in hurricane prone Houston or Galveston, residents in Ingram and Hunt now regularly see and hear them crunching bark.
Instead of the sounds of screams of terror in the early hours of July 4, seven weeks later, silence hovers over uprooted trees strewn along a now shallow river’s edge.
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As they live with new sounds and new memories, survivors said they were comforted by a governor who was there when cameras were long gone.
“He really cares,” many said of the governor as they left. Those who weren’t at the event but learned of it later, told The Center Square, “His actions, when no one else sees, speaks volumes about his character. What he did shows that he really cares.”