Luis Flores has lived in his home along the Leona River for 24 years. Like many of his neighbors, Flores was told he wouldn’t need flood insurance for his home. His property isn’t even in a flood zone. Time after time, he’d heard, “it’ll fill up, but it never spills over.”
Never in his lifetime did he expect the gentle flow of the river running along his backyard to overtake his gravel driveway, his house and flood everything inside.
After evacuating to the safety of a hotel, Flores watched via his front door security camera as his front yard turned into a lake. When he returned after the water receded, the damage was overwhelming.
“You open the door, and the stench just hits you,” Flores said. “It's similar to the smell of a dead animal. I’m going, ‘How the heck am I going to live in this house again?’”
As a cardiac patient, Flores is limited physically and therefore could not mud out his house on his own. The Texans on Mission volunteers who arrived at his front door last week ready to help were heaven-sent, he said.
"When Texans on Mission arrived, I was relieved,” Flores said. “They're a light in the darkness, and I knew that all those prayers I said are being answered right here, right now."
After a flash flood tore through the Hill Country, TXM teams arrived in Uvalde on July 20 and are helping as many of Flores’ neighbors as possible, including Mayor Hector Luevano. Water seeped into Luevano's home, where he has lived for 25 years, drenching it with water from the front door all the way to the back.
“Truly, I did not believe the water was going to reach my residence,” Luevano said. "It's something that we've never experienced before to this magnitude. Water just seemed to cover this whole area — the downtown area, our local grocery stores — it covered the entire city."
Hector’s daughter, Elissa, said her father’s name means “protector,” and that’s exactly what he’s been doing for Uvalde. In caring for his community following a flood that blindsided and devastated so many residents, Hector has hardly had a moment to address the damage sustained to his own home. So, TXM is stepping up to care for Uvalde's leader and protector, among many others nearby.
While assessors walked through Luevano’s home and discussed plans to rip up flooring, chaplain Leslie Burch held his hand and prayed fervently with him for peace. The Marble Falls team started to work on his home the next day.
"I'm very grateful for the response," Luevano said, tears streaming down his face. "Volunteers came together. They reached out to family members, neighbors, friends that they knew were in need of assistance, and they just came out and helped with trucks, trailers and manpower. You can't put a price on that."
TXM team leader Benny Williams said he was incredibly proud of the new volunteers on his team who jumped right into the work. Whatever skills they lacked, they learned onsite quickly and eagerly. To see the relief on families’ faces is more than rewarding, he said.
“Our whole team is self-motivated,” Williams said. “That’s the best kind of team you can have.”
As TXM continues to work in Uvalde, flexibility is key, Williams said. As families discover the mud out help TXM provides and ask for assistance, the team has been able to flow wherever the need is strongest.
In Boerne, TXM teams are wrapping up as needs are met and homes are prepared for rebuilding. However, families across the impacted area are still hurting as they mourn the damage to their beloved homes.
“They say things happen for a reason,” Luevano said. “I can't think of a reason right now why we're going through this, but I believe that we're going to come out of this much stronger than we were before.”
You can help these Hill Country families
Families in Kerrville, Uvalde, Boerne and Comfort are in need of prayer as they begin to rebuild their lives with the help of TXM volunteers. Your generous donation can also ensure we continue to bring relief, supplies and support to these families.
Together, we can remind our neighbors in South Texas that they are not facing this hardship alone.