Flash floods have long haunted the Texas Hill Country

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Hill Country is famed for its breathtaking scenery, with rivers like the Guadalupe winding through steep hills and rugged valleys. But beneath that beauty lies danger — this region is among the most flash flood-prone areas in the United States.

One of the most devastating floods occurred in July 1978, when Topical Storm Amelia made landfall in Corpus Christi and moved inland.

The weakened system stalled over the headwaters of the Medina and Guadalupe rivers, unleashing torrential rain across the Hill Country.

Eight people drowned near Center Point, and 25 more lost their lives in Kerr, Kendall and Bandera counties. Then-Gov. Dolph Briscoe flew to Comfort to assess the damage firsthand, and declared it one of the worst floods in Texas history.

Until the recent July 4, 2025, flood, the deadliest weather event in the Guadalupe River’s history came in July 1987. As much as 15 inches of rain fell west of Hunt in the river’s upper basin.

A group from a Baptist church in North Texas attempted to evacuate their youth camp, but as buses and vans tried to cross a low-water crossing, a wall of water surged in from the west, quickly engulfing the vehicles. Helicopter crews managed to rescue some campers and staff clinging to trees, but 10 teenagers died.

Flooding struck again in early July 2002, when Kerrville recorded 19 inches of rain, making it the city’s wettest month since August 1978. Between Kerrville, Center Point and Comfort, an astonishing 40 to 50 inches of rain were reported.

Texas leads the nation in flood-related deaths by a significant margin. Between 1959 and 2019, at least 1,069 people died in floods across the state. A large share of those fatalities occurred in the Hill Country, a region grimly nicknamed “Flash Flood Alley” for good reason.