
Pearl Cole and her family reflect on evacuating their Kerrville home during the flooding that devastated the area on July Fourth.
KERRVILLE, Texas — Kerrville resident Pearl Cole says it was about 4:30 Friday morning when her brother woke her up saying he was in ankle-deep water.
Her brother has dementia, so Cole said she discounted what he said.
“I thought I was dreaming because Larry said ‘You’re not going to believe this but I’ve got water up to my ankles!’ And I’m like ‘Go back to bed!’ and all of a sudden, I heard it moving furniture everywhere,” said Cole.
Cole said she scooped up her 4-year-old granddaughter and her brother and started trying to escape. When she stepped outside, she said she found a full-scale evacuation underway in her neighborhood, just upstream from the big Veterans Memorial Highway bridge that spans the Guadalupe River on the east side of Kerrville.
Cole said they fled, but returned to begin the arduous job of cleaning up shortly after the water receded from a record flood that killed an ever-growing number of people.
Her neighbor, Amanda, told a similar story of fear when she found herself trying to escape from rising water with her three children and her mother.
“We got a call from my neighbor saying we were being evacuated and I didn’t think it could be anything like it was,” Amanda said.
Nevertheless, Amanda said she told the kids and her mom to grab some clothing and get going.
“I got my kids out to the car and the water was at my neighbor’s house and it was like looking out to the ocean,” Amanda said. “My whole body just started trembling.”
Amanda said her mom wasn’t moving fast enough.
“I was like ‘You don’t understand how bad this is we gotta go… like right now!'” Amanda said. “I told her ‘When you see this, you are going to freak out!'”
Amanda said her mom saw the water and said “Oh my God!”
The fact that the neighbors who warned her are still working with everyone to recover is important.
“It means a lot!” Amanda said.
Gathering water-logged but treasured mementos and pictures from walls that remained wet, Cole said she was grateful for the support of friends and strangers alike.
She said someone has already offered her secure storage space so that she can move what little she will probably be able to salvage and the providers who help care for her brother promised to provide short-term shelter.
One plaque she carefully took from the wall reads: “Friends are like stars, they shine the brightest when the sky is darkest.”
Cole said the message will be an important reminder in the hard days ahead.
Across the street and closer to the river, an even more frightening story emerged as Dinah Morgan said her pastor’s house was overtaken.
Morgan said the pastor’s adult son was the only one home at the time.
“He said he woke up to water on his feet and within minutes he was pushed out of the house,” Morgan said. “He held onto the carport, which ultimately collapsed.”
Morgan said the man survived but the house, which featured a now-ruined grand piano, is totaled.
With a crowd of more than a dozen neighbors pitching in to clear away debris, everyone agreed they are proud of the community and committed to recovery.
Meanwhile at a daily briefing, community leaders said anyone who wants to help flood victims can trust the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country with monetary donations and the hub for volunteers is the Kerrville Salvation Army.
More information about possible FEMA relief can be found here.