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Matthew Stone’s house looks the same as the others on Guadalupe Street, a few blocks from downtown Kerrville, Texas. There’s one difference, though: Mr. Stone’s porch sits a few inches higher than his neighbors’. That small advantage caused the flash flood on July 4 to leave him alone, haunted but dry.
“I heard people screaming for help” as the torrent carried them downstream in front of his home, Mr. Stone, 44, recalled.
Though Kerrville, a city of 25,000 that has become a hub for search and recovery work along the Guadalupe River, largely escaped the worst of the flood’s damage, some parts of the city were devastated. The city water plant sustained significant damage, meaning that residents will have to rely on well water for at least the next few weeks. And on the streets nearest to the river, dozens of houses were destroyed. Police officers evacuated 200 people from homes and vehicles, according to Sergeant Jonathan Lamb of the Kerrville Police Department.
On the riverbank by Mr. Stone’s house, five bodies were found by Tuesday, and another was retrieved on Wednesday afternoon. Many people remain missing from at least one campground at the edge of the city. Early on July 4, parks employees evacuated a different riverside campground where tents, RVs and cabins were inundated soon afterward, city officials said on Tuesday.
In one harrowing rescue, a police officer wrapped a length of garden hose around his waist to serve as an anchor. Two other officers, holding onto the hose, waded into the surging water and rescued two people who were trapped and clinging to a tree.
“Folks, I don’t know how many lives our K.P.D. team saved in an hour in Kerrville,” Sgt. Lamb said at a news conference on Wednesday. “This tragedy could have been so much worse.”
