During Tuesday’s weekly meeting, the Grayson County commissioners offered condolences to those affected by the Texas Hill Country floods last week. They prayed for the people and acknowledged the ongoing recovery efforts in that area.
The thoughts of the commissioners were with the people affected by the July 4 flooding in Central Texas throughout the meeting. As of Tuesday morning, more than 103 individuals had died in the flooding with 28 being from Camp Mystic.
“Lord, we come to you with grace, gratitude and heavy hearts as we remember those that were tragically impacted by the events on July 4 in Hill Country area,” Grayson County Judge Bruce Dawsey began the invocation at the start of Tuesday’s meeting. “We ask that you provide comfort and peace to all those affected and remember those out trying to find closure for some of those families.”
While the majority of those who died were from Kerr County, Texas Tribune reported seven people died in Travis County, six in Kendall County, three in Burnet County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County.
“We want everybody to keep the flood victims in your prayers,” commissioner Art Arthur said during commissioner’s comments. “With all the exposure that the Kerr County and Guadalupe River have received, there is a whole lot more. The city of San Angelo is built on a bowl at the Concho River. The loss of life is nowhere near that as it is with other areas of the Hill County, but devastation and property loss is unbelievable. It does not look much different than the more outlying areas. A lot of structures in town and homes in town are washed away. Just keep all of that in your prayers and county our blessings that with all the problems we have got, the Good Lord spared us from a disaster like that.”
Commissioner Lindsay Wright searched for the words to describe her feelings on the ongoing situation.
“I do not have the words,” she said. “Heavy hearted when you mentioned that earlier. That is exactly how it is…the devastation…Put yourself in their shoes as a mother, an elected official. What would we do in that situation” Are you ever prepared for that? The world is hard enough as it is. We need to give everybody time to grieve too.”
Commissioner Josh Marr agreed.
“We need water to live and you can see how deadly water can be as well,” he said. “A lot of families, a lot of lives, a lot of everything affected down there. Keep them in your prayers and wish them the best for recovery. I have seen in my line of work what flooding does and what it can do. It is not going to be pretty. It is going to be a long hard cleanup for those folks.”
Commissioner Matt Hardenburg was not present Tuesday, but at the end of the meeting, Dawsey summed it up for everyone.
“It is not just the Hill Country,” he said. “It is a lot of kids and people on vacation from the Dallas area, Liberty and all over the state. It is just a tragic, tragic incident.”
