By JACKIE TAYLOR | July 9, 2025

Kerrville, Texas

Fear is a crazy thing; it’s debilitating and a cancer for those of us that live on this planet.

I speak of fear because of the flood that just devastated Kerrville, Tex. that took the lives of, as of today, over 100 people with 11 kids still missing.

What parent doesn’t want their child to experience summer camp? It’s a wonderful place to meet friends, experience new things, learn new skills – and that is what over 900 girls were doing at Camp Mystic Christian Girls camp July 4th.

They were not the only ones out on the Guadalupe River southwest of Austin, hundreds of people hit the road with their campers to enjoy the holiday weekend.

But a ‘perfect storm’ hit dumping what is reported as four months of rain on the area, in a matter of hours, creating a 27-foot wall of water that blew through the river in an estimated 45-minute to less than three-hour warning time in the dark of night.

Water is such an awesome, powerful, scary thing. I was one that witnessed the devastation of water when the Big Thompson Canyon flooded in Estes Park, Colorado in 1976. That flood cost the lives of 132 people and changed the look of the canyon forever.

My mom, brother and I were in the canyon doing one of our favorite things the day before the flood – we were looking for rocks. The next day we watched huge black clouds center on Estes Park and dump a huge amount of rain on the area. Creeks, the Big Thompson River, Poudre River and others flooded giving residents little time to escape.

Kerrville was the same – think about 27 to 30 feet of water cascading down a river that you are camped on. Thirty-feet is taller than the building the Linn County News occupies; it’s taller than many trees and houses in the county.

I love to camp; I’ve camped next to many a river, creek and stream – does a flood cross my mind? Yes, any sane person has to think about a flood; especially since a flood can come from miles upstream where a storm may be dumping water not even near your area.

Roaring River, for example, is one place I love. I’ve camped there for 34 years; and, we’ve been woken up by Park Rangers warning us we may need to evacuate. The drainage dumping into Roaring River is 20,000 acres that can lead to much water blowing through the campground.

So, fear is not a silly emotion for people to have when they venture forth. As a Christian, I’m not afraid to die, but I certainly don’t want to walk into a situation that I haven’t thought about an escape route or plan for.

God is in control; a 30-foot wall of water is something that we can’t plan on. Kerrville’s flood is being coined a ‘generational’ flood. It was a perfect storm where a wet, active storm sat on the area and dumped approximately 12-inches of rain or 100 billion gallons of water, more than Niagara Falls’ daily flow.

FEMA and other entities are now figuring out that our country needs a better way to warn people of events such as occurred over July 4. But think about it, I have a weather radio in my house. If I traveled to Kerrville to enjoy the river, would I take my weather radio? Then, would I be able to tune it to that area? Dire flash flood warnings were sent out – but who received them of the hundreds of campers far from home?

Fox News had a pastor from the area on who spoke sound words that we can’t live in fear and not live our lives. We can’t fear the next flash flood, tornado or whatever cataclysmic event may occur. Knowledge that Jesus died for our sins and we have a better place waiting for us should give us hope, and settle our nerves. 

God is good, camping is good – fear is not good. So, I’ll keep venturing forth – but maybe with more of a thought process in mind of escape routes, weather awareness and more.