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Texans who live in RVs grapple with the loss of homes, but it's the loss of community that hurts the most

Thomas Rux has lived in his RV in Kerrville for five years. Flooding in the Texas Hill Country on July 4 destroyed his home, leaving him to dig through what remains.
Joey Palacios
/
Texas Public Radio
Thomas Rux has lived in his RV in Kerrville for five years. Flooding in the Texas Hill Country on July 4 destroyed his home, leaving him to dig through what remains.

Angie Nevarez was asleep in the early hours of July 4 when the storm really started raging.

She woke up to the downpour battering her RV in Kerrville, Texas, as red and blue emergency strobe lights flashed through her windows. Police and firefighters were banging on the doors of campers and RVs, ordering people to evacuate.

Nevarez looked at her phone.

It was 2:30 a.m. She saw there were no emergency alerts in her notifications. But she knew it was time to get out.

The Guadalupe River was rising.

"I was scared, I was very scared," she said. "I didn't know what to expect. I've never been through anything like that."

The destruction that followed killed more than 136 people. These were the second deadliest floods in Texas history. (The deadliest floods were caused by a hurricane that made landfall in Galveston in 1900.) In the Texas Hill Country, at least three people are still missing.

Nevarez grabbed her grandson and fled, not knowing if her home would be there when she returned.

Living the RV life

RV living is popular in this part of Texas. Kerr County has seven RV parks along the Guadalupe River, including some right on its banks. When the flash floods hit, those closest to the water were the most vulnerable. Dozens of RVs were washed away at a single park.

Gwynn Gilliam is a retiree who lives in a camper at Lone Star RV Park. She sits in a lawn chair on the artificial turf outside her home. This park is one of those set farther back from the river so it wasn't caught in the river's swell.

Gilliam moved here after retiring from her job at a veterinarian clinic in town. She was looking for a simpler way to live. So, she sold her traditional single-family home and bought a camper after her children moved out.

RV life suits her, she said. Gilliam pays $400 per month for her space but apart from that there is little maintenance, she pays a pittance for utilities and she loves her RV community.

"This is the sort of place where if you've got a leak and you can't fix it yourself, you go knock on your neighbor's door," she said.

But after the July 4 floods, for the first time ever, she has considered leaving.

"I've been here four years and I love it," Gilliam said as she adjusted her gray ballcap and tugged at the hem of her black and gray camo T-shirt. "You couldn't dynamite me out of here."

Mary Gonzalez lives at the nearby Take-it-Easy RV Resort. The school teacher said her neighbors have stepped up to help each other with leaks, battered siding and torn up plantings. Someone has already been over to patch her ceiling.

An RV was picked and moved by the Guadalupe River. The red "X" mark means there were no survivors or dead found inside.
Joey Palacios / Texas Public Radio
/
Texas Public Radio
An RV was picked and moved by the Guadalupe River. The red "X" mark means there were no survivors or dead found inside.

Gonzalez will still have to get more permanent repair work done, but she said the quick fix protected her RV from the rain and gave her peace of mind. And she noted that residents have been sharing food and resources, and helping each other connect with organizations that can help.

For Gonzalez, it's just another example of the way people in Kerrville take care of each other.

"We're around people that really care here," she said. "There's been a lot of help, a lot of support."

Going home

Angie Nevarez returned to the Riverside RV Park the day after the flood waters crested, not knowing what would be left.

"I found a lot of sadness and a lot of homes washed away," Nevarez said. "Everything just seemed like it was destroyed."

Her RV wasn't washed away by the waters, but it was flooded. The floors, walls, the ceiling and the roof were all ruined. She's trying to stay optimistic, but she feels a sense of dread when she thinks about her home. It's likely totaled, she said.

Like so many others, Nevarez didn't have flood insurance. She's met with FEMA agents and expects to hear something back by Aug. 5 about what assistance she might get.

But if it's not enough to fix her RV, there's already talk among some park residents, whose places were spared, about donating money to neighbors who lost their homes. They're still figuring out the specifics, she said.

Nevarez said it probably won't matter what support is out there. She'll end up staying in the RV community in Kerrville, though she will probably move away from the river.

"I've never seen anything like that," Nevarez said, referring to the July 4 storm and flash floods. "I'd seen it on TV. I'd heard about it, but never experienced it. And I don't ever want to experience it again."

Copyright 2025 NPR

An entire RV park in Kerrville, Texas was washed away in the Independence Day floods.
Joey Palacios / Texas Public Radio
/
Texas Public Radio
An entire RV park in Kerrville, Texas was washed away in the Independence Day floods.

James Hartley

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