As floodwaters rise again, Texas Hill Country bar owner relives last year’s devastation

From The Texas Newsroom:

The voice of Johnny Cash filled Howdy’s Bar and Chill in Kerrville Thursday night as friends danced and laughed over drinks.

Behind the bar, owners Lorena Guillén and Bob Canales poured beers and greeted customers by name. Outside, the wooden patio glistened after days of near constant rain.

Just beyond it, the Guadalupe River churned through Kerr County.

About a year ago, that river destroyed the Blue Oak RV Park, owned by the couple and located just downhill from the bar. The flood swept away homes and killed people across Central Texas during one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history. Over the past week, the river rose again.

“Feeling a little bit of déjà vu, being here again today and seeing the river the same way it was last year,” Guillén said. “It is heartbreaking to see.”

The latest flooding has killed at least two people, the result of a week-long storm surge throughout South Central Texas. For locals like Guillén, seeing the Guadalupe rise again reopened wounds that had barely begun to heal.

Around 4 a.m. last July, Guillén and Canales waded through floodwaters rushing across the Blue Oak RV Park, banging on RV doors to wake sleeping campers before the Guadalupe swallowed the property. A family of four was trapped by the rising water on a small island midstream. John Burgess held one of his young boys as the water raged around his family.

“Throw me the baby,” Canales recalled shouting as he reached toward them. The Burgess family disappeared into the flood before he could help. They were later found dead.

From higher ground, the couple watched helplessly as cabins broke loose from their foundations, as RVs were ripped from their parking spots — as cries for help echoed over the roar of the river. More than 130 lives were lost statewide in the July Fourth floods of 2025.

The physical destruction was immediate, but the emotional toll would take much longer to surface. After months of rebuilding, Guillén would eventually seek treatment for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It took a while, in my case, to realize that I needed some help,” Guillén said. “I have a great team of doctors. They have helped me this whole year to get through it.”

Along with the RV park, the flood also forced Guillén and Canales from the home they had lived in beside the bar. They’ve since relocated to Bandera, about 40 minutes away. Even there, the nearby Medina River rose nearly 16 feet during this week’s flooding. Their new home, however, sits on higher ground, well away from the river.

“It’s been a crazy year, it’s been a lot of ups and downs, but this year is a lot better because we didn’t lose as many people,” Guillén said of the most recent flood.

On Thursday night, Guillén and her husband served food and drinks as they always have, while the Guadalupe rushed just beyond the patio, its swollen waters covering the midstream island that’s normally visible. Looking toward the river today, they no longer see rows of RVs lining the bank. They see the community that was lost.

Long-term residents greeted each other every morning. People relaxed along the river as the smell of barbecue drifted through the campground. In the evenings, neighbors gathered outside their RVs while enjoying music from the outdoor stage at the bar. On weekends, families floated the Guadalupe before stopping in for food and drinks.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” she said.

The couple doesn’t plan to rebuild the RV park as it once was.

Instead, they’re transforming the riverfront into a space for day visitors, with plans for an amphitheater and a flea market. Future structures will be built with concrete and other materials that can better withstand flooding, and there will no longer be overnight guests staying near the river, Guillén said.

“Now it’s flooding more often and more aggressive,” she said. “We need to realize what we have and build in a safe way…because it will come again.”

For a while, it seemed the recovery was finally gaining momentum.

Then the Guadalupe rose again.

“It was coming back,” Guillén said. “We were very excited a couple months ago that for the first time we were able to cut the grass. But we got another flood.”

As recovery continues, so does the effort to prepare for the next flood. Along with a new network of gauges that track rainfall and river conditions, flood sirens have been installed across the region.

Some of those sirens were donated and installed by River Sentry near the former RV park, separate from the state-funded warning system created under Senate Bill 3, one of several flood-safety measures approved by lawmakers after the catastrophe last year.

At around 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning, sirens sounded.

“A lot of our neighbors did evacuate,” Guillén said. “It saved some lives.”

With the new warning systems in place, Guillén said she feels better prepared for whatever comes next. In the meantime, she and her husband are focused on keeping Howdy’s open. Business hasn’t fully recovered since last year’s flood.

“We already used all our savings, so we’re at a higher risk now than last year to lose everything,” Guillén said. “We’re struggling, but we’re surviving somehow.”

She knows the Guadalupe will rise again. The difference, she hopes, is that the community will be better prepared.

“We’re thinking from now on, every July, we’re gonna have a flood party,” Guillén joked. “Let’s make lemonade, right?”