Texas faces a new flash flood emergency after torrential rains between Wednesday and Thursday caused rivers and streams to overflow in the Texas Hill Country region, forcing evacuations and rescues in several communities.

Authorities issued flash flood emergency alerts for Kerrville, Hunt, Uvalde and Knippa, where water entering buildings and life-threatening conditions were reported.

The situation revives the memory of the floods that affected Camp Mystic in July 2025, when more than a hundred people died after the Guadalupe River flooded.

The Guadalupe and Pedernales rivers record historic increases

Early Thursday morning, the level of the Guadalupe River in Hunt rose from 9 to 19 feet between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., and shortly before 6:00 a.m., it reached 37 feet, according to the Kerr County Sheriff's Office.

The National Weather Service (NWS) also issued a new flood emergency along the Pedernales River, warning of a “large and deadly flood wave.”

At Fredericksburg, the river gauge exceeded 31 feet and was continuing to rise.

Likewise, the NWS warned that a dangerous wave of water was advancing along the Guadalupe River from Kerrville towards Center Point, Comfort, Waring, Sisterdale, Crown and Bergheim.

At Center Point, the river level rose 32 feet in just four hours, with a predicted peak similar to that recorded during the catastrophic July 4, 2025, flood.

Evacuations, rescues and bridges under surveillance

Authorities reported evacuations and rescue operations in Kerrville, Hunt, Uvalde and Knippa.

In Comfort, engineers inspected the Highway 87 bridge over the Guadalupe River because of fears that the force of the water had compromised its structure. After the evaluation they concluded that, for the moment, the bridge remains safe.

Meanwhile, 63 people remained sheltered in the Comfort evacuation center along with their pets, waiting for conditions to improve.

Although the water level began to drop in some sectors, authorities warned about the possibility of a second flood on Thursday, although of less intensity than the one recorded in the morning.

More than 75 people have been rescued

Texas Governor Greg Abbott reported that disasters have been declared in 59 counties, a number that could increase as the emergency progresses.

Abbott said more than 75 people had been rescued as of Wednesday and said accumulated rainfall could exceed 30 inches, about 10 inches more than during last year's deadly floods.

“We are facing and responding to a flood that will likely break records,” the governor said.

To respond to the emergency, the state deployed more than 1,300 members of state agencies, along with more than 800 vehicles, 75 vessels and 20 aircraft.

Exceptional rains maintain the risk of flooding

In the last 48 hours, the Uvalde area accumulated up to 20 inches of rain, an amount equivalent to more than six months of normal rainfall in that region. About 8 inches were recorded in a two-hour period alone.

The National Weather Service forecast rain rates of between two and four inches per hour, while some areas could receive more than an additional foot of rain before the end of Thursday.

The agency maintains a risk category 4 out of 4 for flash floods, the highest alert level.

According to the NWS, this classification is only issued on about 4% of the days of the year, but is associated with about a third of flood deaths and 80% of flood damage.

Why is the Texas Hill Country so vulnerable to flooding?

The Texas Hill Country region, known as “Flash Flood Alley,” is considered one of the most flash flood-prone areas in the United States.

Its mountainous relief, shallow soils with a high concentration of clay, together with the constant convergence of humid air from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, favor extremely intense rainfall and rapid runoff of water into rivers and streams.

Much of the territory is also located on floodplains surrounded by hills, which accelerates the increase in river flow.

In July 2025, these conditions contributed to one of the worst recent tragedies in Texas, when Guadalupe River flooding left more than 100 dead, including 25 girls at Camp Mystic.