Now that the water’s receded, Kerrville is slowly coming back. But it’s not quite the same.
Becky Etzler is executive director of the Riverside Nature Center.
“These giant historic cypress trees, bald cypress that line the Guadalupe all through Kerrville, you know, are either gone or damaged," Etzler said. "People are right now, rightfully so, very concerned about the loss of life, but we're going to be environmentally impacted by this for years.”
The nature center has a strong volunteer base that has been there for days. But strangers have dropped by as well.
“The rugby team from Texas State, they contacted me Sunday night, said, ‘We're in town. Can we come?’ So we had the whole rugby team here yesterday," Etzler said. "We had some nice, young, strong backs to do some heavy lifting for us.”
Also there: the Shim’s Be Blessed food truck, which delivered free lunches, and Mir’s Landscaping, which supplied a crew with chainsaws. On the other side of the Guadalupe was a sign that read "Free Sandwiches and Prayer."
“Ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches or peanut butter and jelly? Which one do you want?” asked Jamie Stanford, who drove the five hours from Fort Worth to help.
"We're here to pray with people. Give them a free sandwich if they're hungry, and just to show emotional and spiritual support as much as possible,” she said.
Her friend Brigid Tripp came too.
“I think one of the things that stands out too is yesterday, a canine first responder unit came, and he just had tears in his eyes the whole time," Tripp said. "And you know, my heart just knows what they saw."