Texas flooding: Kerr Co. business owner speaks out
It’s been one week since the July Fourth flooding in Central Texas and the death toll has climbed to 120. Over 90 of those deaths are from Kerr County. Good Day Austin’s Tierra Neubaum is live in Kerr County with the story of a business owner who witnessed the flooding firsthand.
KERR COUNTY, Texas – A Kerr County business owner is sharing her firsthand account of the deadly flooding that’s devastated parts of Central Texas.
What they’re saying:
Lorena Guillen, the owner of Blue Oak RV Park and Howdy’s Restaurant and Bar, told FOX 7 Austin’s Tierra Neubaum that what she witnessed was unbelievable.
“It was just crazy how [the] water went up about 35, 40 feet from down there, all the way up to here in about 45 minutes. It was so fast. I’ve never seen anything like that before. And it was raging, raging water,” Guillen said.
Guillen lives on the property and was on site Friday morning surveying the damage and showing rescue teams where to go.
“It’s kind of hard. I guess as days go by, it starts to hit me harder and harder. We were in emergency mode for the longest time and working so hard that you didn’t have time to think,” Guillen said.
The RV park was full on Friday, July 4th, and now it is just a slab. Guillen said that RVs and cabinets flying down the river even ripped the bark off the trees around the park.
FOX 7 Austin crews noted mangled RVs, tires everywhere, uprooted trees and stones, concrete and granite just ripped to pieces.
Scene from Blue Oak RV Park
The park’s sibling business, Howdy’s, was closed over the weekend as they had lost their propane tank in the floods. The restaurant is set to open to the public today (July 11) as they have gotten a new tank.
Guillen told FOX 7 Austin she hopes to see all her regulars again and to know they’re safe. The ones she has been able to see have been giving her hugs and checking on her as well, she said.
The latest on the Central Texas floods
By the numbers:
The death toll from the July 4th weekend flooding in Central Texas sits at 120.
Across the state, more than 170 people are considered missing.
At least 96 deaths, including 36 children, have been confirmed in Kerr County alone. About 161 people in Kerr County are now known to be missing, including at least five girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic.
In Travis County, there were at least seven deaths and also significant damage to infrastructure.
Kendall County has reported eight deaths.
Burnet County has at least five deaths confirmed. A Marble Falls volunteer fire chief is still missing.
Williamson County reports three deaths and Tom Green County has one death confirmed.
Officials say as for missing people, there is one in Burnet and 10 in Travis County.
Resources and donations for those impacted
The Source: Information in this report comes from an interview by FOX 7 Austin’s Tierra Neubaum and previous reporting by FOX 7 Austin.
Great Job Tierra.Neubaum@fox.com (Tierra Neubaum) & the Team @ Latest News | FOX 7 Source link for sharing this story.
