AP News53%
Texas flash floods leave at least 2 dead in region devastated a year ago 37%
By Jesse Bedayn68% Jamie Stengle13% Hannah Fingerhut0%
7/16/2026, 12:00:11 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Availability Heuristic, Appeal to Emotion, and Anecdotal, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 33.1% saturation with 301 hits. Analysis detected 1,435 faulty-reasoning hits from 908 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 43.6% and a BS Rank of 37% (13,375 of 21,126 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 63.30% of the article peer group.
Texas flash floods leave at least 2 dead in region devastated a year ago
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Catastrophic flash floods in Texas have killed two people and forced hundreds of rescues in areas still reeling from devastating floods a year ago, Gov.
Greg Abbott said Thursday.
Rescuers aboard boats and helicopters have saved more than 200 people, including stranded drivers and people trapped in homes, Abbott said.
The governor said the hardest-hit areas are expecting more rain into Friday and are not out of danger yet, with some rivers expected to reach historic levels.
After days of pounding rain, the National Weather Service said a large wave on Thursday barreled down the same river wrecked by flash floods last summer when two dozen children and counselors died at Camp Mystic.
Much like last year, the floods came in the middle of the night.
But this time some residents in the Texas Hill Country said they received more warnings.
“It’s crazy happening two times in one year,” said Josiah Rodriguez, who awoke to the sound of heavy rain around 2 a.m.
Thursday in Kerrville.
He navigated flooded roads to help evacuate relatives.
“Last year there was no warning of it,” he said.
“It just kind of happened overnight and it took everyone by surprise.
This year, a lot more alerts have gone into place, a lot more safety measures.”
Residents said they were caught off guard a year ago and didn’t receive any warning when floods overtopped the Guadalupe.
Some local leaders were criticized for not acting quickly.
The storms and flooding this time threatened multiple counties close to the Mexico border and in the Hill Country near San Antonio.
Roughly 6 million residents across Texas were under a flood watch this week, and many were expected to remain in effect into Friday.
Several agencies sent rescue helicopters to the flood zone, including Travis County in the state capital of Austin.
At a wild animal rescue, Katie Buck evacuated several dozen animals to higher ground in the dark Thursday as the normally dry Lazy Creek overflowed.
She got all of the animals to safety, but flooding destroyed several enclosures at the Buck Wild Animal Rescue and Wildlife Rehab near Ingram in Kerr County.
“We were just starting to get back on our feet again,” Buck said.
“To have to go through this again is just devastating.”
Residents at an RV park in Comfort moved their trailers as sirens sounded, manager Duke Earwood said.
Water rose over the hoods of vehicles parked near the river at the Comfort RV Resort.
Markers showed the flooding already matched last July’s big flood.
“Too familiar for sure, and too soon,” Earwood said.
Floodwaters also overran the city of Uvalde overnight, cutting off most outside routes.
The Leona River, normally dry most of the year, filled streets with water.
“People really can’t get anywhere,” said Carmen Rodriguez, who nervously watched water engulf her neighborhood as a helicopter roared overhead.
“We have a place to go, but all the streets are closed.”
Rodriguez said authorities seemed to be prepared, ordering mandatory evacuations and notifying people directly.
After staying up most of the night, Casy Sanford and her husband felt like things were OK at their home in Uvalde as the downpour and heavy winds let up.
Texas Game Wardens were outside their door just a few hours later, evacuating the couple, Sanford’s son and three daughters, her mother-in-law and two dogs by Thursday morning.
Sanford said she felt “mere shock” as they left most everything and closed the door behind them, water seeping into the ground floor of the only home her little girls have known.
“My little one was scared.
She kept grabbing my hand real tight,” Sanford said of her 8-year-old.
“I’m not sure what we’ll see when we get back.”
Sanford later said a neighbor had visited her family’s home and found water had climbed as high as their kitchen counters.
Texas Game Wardens rescued close to 150 people by the afternoon, according to a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson.
Video released by the agency showed crews hoisting children from a house surrounded with water into a helicopter.
Uvalde resident Jose Maldonado said water reached the first step to the entrance of his RV on Wednesday and rose above the door on Thursday.
Floodwaters took down nearby walls, moved cars, flipped a trailer and left behind debris, he said.
He and his wife planned to stay with his parents until they could return to clean up.
While the water didn’t rise as high as a year ago in Ingram, Mayor Claud Jordan believes this round of flooding was more widespread in his city.
“There are a bunch of businesses that haven’t reopened from last year,” Jordan said.
“This doesn’t help.”
The Hill Country is especially prone to flash floods because the area’s signature limestone is covered by just a thin layer of soil.
During heavy rains, water can quickly shoot downhill before filling the narrow river basins.
___
Stengle reported from Dallas and Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
Associated Press writers Christopher L.
Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Michael Phillis in Washington; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; Katie Buck in Concord, New Hampshire; Duke Earwood in Washington; John Mark Steward in Washington; Jose Maldonado in Washington; and Climate in Washington contributed.
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