As the one-year mark of the devastating Fourth of July floods in the Hill Country approaches, Jay Moeller is still learning how to live with an unimaginable loss.
The flooding claimed the lives of five members of his family: his son, Jake Moeller; daughter-in-law, Megan Moeller; granddaughter Harley; and Megan’s parents, Gary and Deann Knetsch.
Now, nearly a year later, Moeller said the grief remains just as real.
“It’s been tough, especially having to go up there and go through and see the devastation of what happened,” he said.
For Moeller, remembering his family has become both a source of comfort and heartbreak.
He described Jake as someone who overcame a difficult childhood.
“He was a tough kid. One of the strongest kids that I know mentally,” Moeller said. “Myself and my parents raised him.”
But becoming a father transformed him.
“Once Harley came along, everything changed,” Moeller said. “It was six years of seeing a total different Jake and Megan, and I was enjoying it because I was right here.”
His granddaughter Harley shared many of his interests, including hunting.
One of Moeller’s final conversations with his son came the night before the flooding.
After apologizing for sounding upset during an earlier conversation, he called Jake.
“I said, ‘Hey, look, I’m sorry,’” Moeller recalled. “He goes, ‘Oh, it’s OK, Dad. Don’t worry. I love you.’”
The next morning, Moeller saw news reports of catastrophic flooding. When repeated calls to Jake and Megan went straight to voicemail, he feared the worst.
“I knew something was wrong,” he said.
He immediately drove to Kerr County, where families had gathered, hoping for answers as search and rescue efforts unfolded.
Recovery crews eventually found the bodies of his family members over several days and across miles of river.
“Jake they found first,” Moeller said. “Harley was the last one.”
The family members were recovered between roughly 6 and 30 miles downstream from where the floodwaters swept them away.
Despite the devastating loss, Moeller said he chooses to focus on the memories his family left behind.
“I just am going to remember them in my heart, my soul, and in pictures that I have,” he said. “That’s enough for me.”
As communities prepare to commemorate the one-year mark of the disaster, Moeller hopes people remember not only those who were lost, but also the lessons learned.
“It’s an act of nature. There’s nothing we can do to prevent it,” he said. “There’s things that we can learn from it. But there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”
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