Perfect. I now have comprehensive information confirming the third death was from Val Verde County. The search results show that this is a developing story with the death toll progressing from one, to two, to three. I have all the details I need. Now I’ll write the article.
Catastrophic flash floods that ravaged the Texas Hill Country and surrounding regions for three consecutive days have claimed a third life, Governor Greg Abbott confirmed Friday during a news conference.
The victim, who drowned after driving into floodwater in Val Verde County, was identified following extensive water rescues and emergency response efforts that began when torrential rains triggered flash flood emergencies across multiple counties early Thursday morning. The death brings the toll from what officials are calling historic flooding to three, less than a year and a half after devastating floods devastated the same region in July 2025 that killed more than 100 people.
The first confirmed death was a 65-year-old man near Comfort in Kerr County, identified as John Mark Steward of Kerrville, who was swept away in an RV when rapidly rising floodwater inundated his mobile home along Goat Creek, a tributary of the Guadalupe River. His wife, Jennie Steward, was visiting her parents in Dallas when a neighbor called overnight to report rising water. By the time rescue efforts could reach him, the entire structure had been swept away and carried downstream. His body was recovered Thursday morning, on what would have been the couple’s third wedding anniversary.
The second death occurred when a 74-year-old man near Uvalde was swept away while driving through flooded roadways. Officials have urged residents repeatedly to follow the safety message “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” and never to drive through water covering roadways, as floodwaters can move with unpredictable and dangerous force.
The flooding was triggered by days of relentless, slow-moving thunderstorms beginning Tuesday that dumped extraordinary amounts of rain across Central Texas. Several locations in Uvalde and Kerr counties recorded more than two feet of rainfall in just three days, with some isolated areas in northern Uvalde County receiving nearly 28 inches. According to federal scientists, rainfall totals of more than 20 inches in these locations have only a 0.2 percent chance of occurring in any given year.
The Guadalupe River, the central waterway through the Hill Country, rose at unprecedented rates. At one location near Hunt, the river surged 10 feet in just one hour early Thursday morning. The National Weather Service reported that a gauge along the Guadalupe River rose 32 feet in just four hours and was expected to reach levels similar to the catastrophic July 4, 2025 flooding, when more than 130 people lost their lives in the region.
Multiple flash flood emergencies were issued across the Hill Country, the highest threat designation indicating an imminent threat to life. The Pedernales River reached 34 feet in Fredericksburg, while the Guadalupe River at Comfort rose to 37 feet Thursday morning. Multiple bridges across the region were damaged or destroyed, including the Sidney Baker Bridge in Kerrville where a barge became stuck in the raging waters.
Emergency response was swift and substantial. More than 2,700 personnel, including state emergency responders, the Texas National Guard, local fire departments, and volunteer organizations, deployed across the flooded region. Over 270 people have been rescued since flooding began, with rescuers using boats, helicopters with hoist capability, and swift water rescue teams. Dozens of residents were forced into emergency shelters as homes and buildings filled with water.
Preparation from last year’s disaster made a critical difference in saving lives. The Texas Legislature passed sweeping reforms after the July 2025 floods, including new safety requirements for children’s summer camps and installation of warning sirens in flood-prone areas. Six sirens were installed in Kerr County, where the worst damage occurred the previous year. During Thursday’s flooding, some of these sirens alerted residents and campers, allowing them to evacuate to higher ground before the worst of the water arrived.
Governor Abbott requested a major disaster declaration covering 28 counties hit hardest by the flooding, opening the door to federal aid and assistance from the federal government for recovery and rebuilding efforts. Preliminary assessments identified damage to at least 490 homes in Kerr County and approximately 100 additional homes in Kendall County, with officials still conducting full damage surveys.
All children’s summer camps in Kerr County, including Camp Mystic where more than two dozen campers and staff were killed in last year’s floods, confirmed their campers were safe during this week’s flooding. The camp, which had planned to reopen with new safety features, had not yet done so at the time of this year’s floods.
Despite the magnitude of the catastrophic flooding, the death toll and rescue numbers remained dramatically lower than last year’s disaster, which officials attributed to a year of preparation and improved emergency response systems. Governor Abbott stated that the lessons learned from the 2025 floods led to better preparedness this time around, though water continued flowing downstream and posed ongoing threats to communities south of the Hill Country, particularly along the Nueces River in Uvalde County, where evacuations continued Friday as floodwaters slowly receded.