For people across the Texas Hill Country, Thursday's flooding wasn't just another high-water event. It was a painful reminder of the disaster that changed so many lives just over a year ago.
The floodwaters returned, neighborhoods flooded once again, and families found themselves cleaning up the same mess they thought they had left behind after the deadly July 2025 floods that killed 119 people in Kerr County.
At Calvary Temple Church in Kerrville, volunteers were back doing what they did last summer—opening their doors to people who suddenly had nowhere else to go.
Soyla Reyna spent the morning helping nearly 50 people who came looking for food, supplies and a place to stay after rising water swept through homes and RV parks.
"A lot of it was unbelievable," Reyna said. "People are devastated by the reoccurrence."
As she talked about what she had seen, it was clear the memories from last year were still fresh.
"Both times, it's been in the middle of the night. I think that is what devastates people. It's like I couldn't see, I couldn't, you know..." she said before trailing off with a sigh.
Across Kerr County, it looked all too familiar. Cars sat where floodwaters had tossed them. Fences caught piles of debris. Muddy waterlines marked homes once again. Neighbors showed up to help each other clean out houses while churches and shelters welcomed people who suddenly needed a place to sleep.
River gauges showed just how quickly conditions changed Thursday morning. The Guadalupe River in Comfort climbed to about 37 feet, while the Pedernales River reached 34 feet near Fredericksburg. Last July, the Guadalupe River near Hunt crested at a record 37.5 feet during the historic flooding.
In some places, this week's flooding was even worse.
The Center Point Fire Department, which had been repaired after last year's flood, was heavily damaged again when water rushed through the building. In Burmenthal, residents watched low-water crossings disappear beneath fast-moving water carrying entire tree trunks downstream.
Peach grower Russell Studebaker said he'd never seen anything like it.
"This is the highest I've ever seen it in 32 years, and it's backing up into our place across the road. It's backing up into our creek. I've never seen it back up into there."
For many people who live along these rivers, flooding has always been part of life. But after surviving the 2025 disaster, many believed lightning wouldn't strike twice.
It did.
"When it did it last year, we're like, 'Oh my God, it's never happened before, ever, so maybe it won't happen again in our lifetime,'" Center Point resident Sherri Steadham said. "And here we are, a year and a few days later."
Steadham woke up around 5:15 Thursday morning after a neighbor called to say water was already getting into homes closer to the river. By the time daylight arrived, the floodwaters had stopped just short of reaching her house—almost exactly where they had stopped a year ago.
There was one major difference this time.
Residents said the water came up more gradually than it did during the catastrophic flooding in 2025. Instead of a sudden wall of water arriving in the darkness, people watched the river slowly creep closer through the early morning hours.
Even so, the fear returned almost instantly.
Volunteer firefighter Razor Dobbs said you could see it on people's faces as the heavy rain continued.
"When that rain's hitting really hard, and you hear it pounding, you can see the look on their faces," Dobbs said. "You can see the look on their faces, this is it."
Unlike last year, emergency alerts came early and often.
Maria Flemming said her phone started receiving warnings around 1:30 Thursday morning and continued long after the worst of the flooding had passed. First responders also went door to door checking on residents and encouraging them to evacuate.
Dobbs said that's the result of a year's worth of work.
"Last night, and the night before, we manned everything," he said.
After last summer's disaster, local departments received funding to improve equipment and training.
"After last year, we got a lot of funding. We invested in the boats and the training, and we got rock solid."
The damage from Thursday's flooding will take time to fully measure. But for many families across the Hill Country, the emotional impact was immediate.
