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Kerr County suffered an incredible tragedy last July 4th when raging flood waters took the lives of about 130 people there, and did tens of millions of dollars in damages.
Now in the wake of that disaster, Kerr County has come together to build something that didn’t yet exist last July. It’s a brand-new tool to help Hill Country residents with recovery efforts — the Kerr Together Disaster Relief Center.
John Dunn is with Hunt Preservation. “The disaster relief center that we just had the ribbon cutting for on Saturday is a one-stop shop that is intended to see through the flood recovery from now and for the next several years,” he said.
Dunn said that residents don't have to run from one place to the next all over town and will find everything in one building, centrally located at 98 Coronado Drive in Kerrville.
“It has the resources that businesses need, residents need to help with the recovery,” Dunn said. “Everything from emotional and spiritual support to business recovery resources and then certainly arts and culture, everything needed for a complete community recovery.”
Dunn said that the space will be operational for as long as people need help with a variety of problems that occur after a disaster.
“I think we're going to say it's permanent until it's determined that it's no longer needed,” he said.
“However, the concept of LTRGs — long term recovery groups — as they're set up throughout the country in response to disasters, is I do believe that they are intended to stand up over time.”
Between fires, droughts, flooding and tornadoes, the area has plenty of disastrous circumstances to respond to. Dunn said that having so many resources under one roof will relieve some of the incredible stress that those who are rebuilding are experiencing.
“It's a central warehouse for a lot of building materials that will get distributed out to the different job sites across the county,” he said. “We also have the Lift Fund inside, and then they have an office at the DRC.”
“If you're looking to get information on how do you claim disaster tax benefits, as you're preparing your return, we'll have resources for that,” he said.
