Devastating flash floods ripped through the Texas Hill Country in the early hours of Friday, sending walls of water crashing through towns like Kerrville and Hunt.
Roads crumbled, vehicles floated away, and emergency responders raced against time to pull people from danger.
The damage was swift, severe, and in some areas—catastrophic.
What caused this flood disaster?
It began with a thunderstorm complex that ignited Thursday afternoon across the rugged terrain between Austin and San Antonio.
This area, known for its steep hills and narrow river valleys, is no stranger to dangerous flash floods. But this time, the setup was particularly potent.
The atmosphere was primed for excessive rainfall. Moisture left behind by the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry, which had made landfall on Mexico’s northeast coast, drifted into southwest Texas over several days.
Barry’s ghost—now just a weak circulation—continued drawing in rich low-level moisture from the western Gulf of Mexico (known in the U.S. as the Gulf of America).
By Thursday night, this influx was enhanced by higher-level moisture streaming in from the Eastern Pacific.
The result? One of the most moisture-laden atmospheric setups on record.
The amount of water vapor overhead (known as precipitable water) was among the top four ever measured in more than 70 years of weather balloon soundings in the region.
When that kind of moisture is forced to rise—especially over the hilly terrain of the Hill Country—it dumps torrential rain in short order.
Compared to local flash flooding
While Texas endured widespread watershed flooding—particularly along the Guadalupe River basin—urban areas like Jacksonville face a different but equally dangerous type of flash flood risk.
Urban flooding happens quickly in parts of Jacksonville, especially in San Marco, Riverside, Southbank, and areas along Hogan’s Creek and McCoys Creek.
These zones are increasingly prone to flash flooding during heavy rainfall events and can become impassable in under an hour.
The difference is scale and terrain: Texas’ Hill Country funnels water rapidly from high ground into narrow river valleys, overwhelming communities miles downstream.
Jacksonville’s flatter landscape and stormwater infrastructure are vulnerable to high-intensity rainfall rates that overwhelm local drainage systems in a matter of minutes.
A timeline of warnings
The National Weather Service in New Braunfels began sounding the alarm well in advance:
- 1:18 p.m. Thursday: A Flood Watch was issued for parts of eight counties, including hard-hit Kerr County. Forecasters warned of the potential for 5 to 7 inches of rainfall by Friday morning.
- 1:14 a.m. Friday: A Flood Warning followed, upgrading the situation in Bandera and Kerr counties. The bulletin warned of “life-threatening flash flooding” in communities like Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt, and Waltonia. The warning was tagged as “considerable”—a designation that automatically triggers a cell phone alert.
- 4:03 a.m. Friday: The most urgent alert, a Flash Flood Emergency, was issued for south-central Kerr County. This extremely rare label is used only when catastrophic flooding is underway or imminent, posing a direct threat to life and property. For residents of Hunt and surrounding areas, the danger had escalated from serious to dire.
What do these alerts actually mean?
To understand the urgency behind these alerts, here’s a breakdown:
- Flood Watch: Conditions could lead to flooding. It’s essentially a heads-up to monitor forecasts and be ready to act.
- Flood Warning: Flooding is happening now or will begin very soon. This is when impacts are either confirmed or highly imminent.
- Flash Flood Emergency: Reserved for the worst-case scenarios—when rapidly rising water is causing or about to cause widespread, catastrophic damage, and lives are at immediate risk. This level of alert is rare and signals that the situation has become dire.
Just how rare is a flood emergency in Florida?
Flash Flood Emergencies have only been issued a handful of times in Florida.
One major example occurred in Fort Lauderdale in April 2023, when over 25 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours, swamping the city and its airport.
Another rare instance was in Pensacola in April 2014, when historic rainfall overwhelmed the panhandle.
Given Florida’s flat terrain and generally sandy soil, most flood events don’t escalate to emergency levels—but when they do, it’s because the situation has become exceptionally dangerous.
Will you get a phone alert for flooding?
It depends.
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are free messages sent to your phone, but they only activate under certain conditions.
For flooding, the NWS must tag the warning as “considerable” or “catastrophic” to trigger a push alert.
Here’s how to make sure you’re set up to receive them:
On iPhones:
- Open Settings
- Tap Notifications
- Scroll to Government Alerts at the bottom
- Enable Emergency Alerts and Public Safety Alerts
On Android devices:
- Go to Settings
- Tap Notifications
- Look for Wireless Emergency Alerts (may be under Advanced or Safety & Emergency)
- Ensure alerts are turned on