COMFORT, Texas – On July 4, Barbara and C. Daniel Zoeller’s peaceful yard in Comfort was flooded with water from the Guadalupe River below them.
“It’s high. I think the most frightening part was that it came so fast, and just all the stuff it was carrying with it was really scary,” Barbara Zoeller said. “There was so much debris, the trees. And then the fire department came by and told us we had to evacuate.”
She thought they were prepared, but no one was ready for the fast-rising water.
“They told us to prepare for the flood around 1:00 p.m. (Friday), and so, we were kind of ready,” Barbara Zoeller said. “But it came three or four hours earlier. It was here (at), like, 10:30 a.m.”
As she described the terrifying situation, a push of air sounded consistently from her mobile oxygen tank, which she needs to wear almost all of the time.
“I had to pack up my oxygen,” Barbara Zoeller said. “It was scary.”
July 4 was also triggering for the couple. They said they had been through this before in 1978.
“In ’78, we had two-and-a-half feet inside the house,” the couple said.
Luckily, this time, the river stopped rising 10 feet from their home. Others were not so lucky.
“I’ve lived in Comfort all my life, but I’ve worked in Kerrville for over 40 years,” Comfort resident Donna Spencer said. “So, to all of a sudden see names start popping up that lost their lives — and those were people that I knew — that was difficult.”
Comfort is Spencer’s safe space. Her home.
“It’s my world, family and just the small town community is everything to me,” Spencer said.
While her town has suffered for nearly two months, the people have also shown its true grit.
“If it’s cooking meals for someone, if it is helping someone with their laundry, if it’s helping someone just clean out and rebuild, everybody has their strengths,” Spencer said.
Spencer said they will have to use those strengths for an extended period of time.
“This is going to be a long, long recovery,” Spencer said. “I want to make sure that people just don’t forget that there’s a lot of people that are still going through a very, very difficult time.”
With continued support, acknowledgement and love, Spencer said she believes healing is still possible.
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