KERR COUNTY, Texas – Kerr County officials — along with local, state and federal lawmakers — held a news conference Friday to discuss their response to this week’s flooding.
The multi-day event put county residents on edge a little more than a year after over 100 people were killed in flooding in the Hill Country.
While the loss of life was not on the level of the July 4, 2025 floods, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy said some residents are experiencing déjà vu.
“Some of the houses that were rebuilt from last year were some of the houses impacted by this flood,” Roy said.
Watch Friday’s full news conference below.
‘We knew what it was’
Elected officials, from Roy to state Rep. Wes Virdell, along with local lawmakers, were quick to point to the biggest differences from last year’s flood and this week’s flooding.
“We weren’t caught off guard by something nobody expected,” Virdell said.
The communication between the different levels of government was “extraordinary,” according to Roy.
“By Tuesday, we knew what it was,” Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said.
On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for dozens of counties across Texas, including Kerr County, due to the storms.
In response to the governor’s declaration, Kelly said county officials established an incident command post.
For Kelly, the incident command post came in handy early Wednesday morning.
“I couldn’t go to sleep very well that (Tuesday) night. I woke up at about 3:30 (a.m. Wednesday) and decided to go over to the incident command post there at the (Kerr County) Sheriff’s Office and check on it,” Kelly said. “We already had it staffed and ready to go. The images were already up on the screens, and we were off and running.”
Kerr County Precinct 1 Commissioner Tom Jones, who is also Kerr County judge-elect, spoke highly of the new flood warning system installed earlier this year.
“The good news is: It worked, and it worked the way it was designed to work,” Jones said.
Through Wednesday evening, between 20 and 24 inches of rain fell in the county, according to Kelly.
Jones said the heavy rain and high water caused “major damage” to six of the county’s 19 bridges. A full assessment of the bridges will be completed when the waters recede.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said dispatchers answered all 911 calls (234) placed on Thursday.
Flood-related death in Kerr County
On Thursday, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed at least one person died in the county in this week’s flooding.
During Friday’s news conference, Leitha confirmed John Mark Steward as the flood victim’s identity.
Leitha said Steward was washed away from the “area of Goat Creek Road,” which is located in the western part of the county. Sheriff’s deputies later found Steward in the 300 block of Center Point River Road — approximately 20 miles southeast of Goat Creek Road.
The sheriff also said there were no additional reports of missing people in the county.
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