Kerr County engineer says July 4 flash flood was "inland tsunami," outlines recovery steps

Charlie Hastings, Kerr County engineer, told the commissioners court on July 11 that the July 4 storm produced an unprecedented inland surge on the Guadalupe River that caused major damage across the county and required a multiagency response. Hastings said search-and-rescue is nearly complete, that staff and volunteers are shifting to recovery, and that engineers have produced a hydraulic model to document the event.

Hastings said the county is at “day 18” of response and described climbing water levels that rose far beyond existing studies: he said measured flows at the Hunt gauge jumped from about 53 gallons per second at midnight to 125,000 gallons per second in one span and, based on his emergency model, could have reached as much as 950,000 gallons per second in parts of the watershed. He described observed flood heights of 40 to 55 feet in places and called the event larger than a 500-year flood, subject to later verification.

The engineer said the storm concentrated over the South Fork drainage basin for several hours and noted local geology'shallow, limestone soils and a steep watershed'that amplified runoff. He said the county used aerial imagery and a STAR (State of Texas Assistance Request) product from the Harris County Flood Control District to help calibrate a hydraulic model that shows how the flood moved and where high-water marks occurred.

Hastings described field work and emergency operations: door-to-door checks, high-water mark mapping, debris accounting and coordination with state and federal teams including the Texas Division of Emergency Management, Texas A&M Forest Service, the Army National Guard, the Corps of Engineers and FEMA. He said search-and-rescue efforts have reduced outstanding missing-person cases to three and that state partners revised search strategies after the county shared model and mapping information.

On damage scope, Hastings said preliminary change-detection and damage-assessment workflows are underway and that early estimates show approximately 2,000 structures affected; he said a substantial-damage determination process is pending and that precise counts are still being developed. He asked the public to preserve evidence and to watch the county website and social channels for updates.

Hastings also described operational needs for recovery: an online/mobile floodplain development permit to handle many owners seeking repairs; confirmed that change-detection imagery and a change-finder analysis are under way to identify structures that moved; and said a public town-hall meeting with the engineer and model author will be held the next evening in Ingram to present the model and answer questions.

The county judge and multiple commissioners thanked staff and volunteers, and the judge framed the current phase as a shift from search-and-rescue to debris removal and recovery planning.

The court did not take action during Hastings's update; the presentation was an operational briefing and several formal items later on the agenda addressed debris management, permits and related recovery decisions.