Second Person Confirmed Dead in Hill Country Flooding

KERRVILLE, TX — Two people have been confirmed dead in the flooding that has ravaged the Texas Hill Country this week.

A 65-year-old man, identified as John Mark Steward, died when his RV was swept away in Kerr County, while a 74-year-old man died when his car was swept off a flooded roadway in Uvalde County.

Steward’s wife, Jennie, posted on social media: "My heart is broken, I am devastated. My husband, Mark, was found and went to be with Jesus. Thank you for all the search and rescue people.”

Hundreds of rescues have been reported across the Hill Country, but the death toll has been nowhere near last year’s devastating flooding that claimed 139 lives, including 117 in Kerr County.

Heavy rainfall continued to bear down on the western portions of the Hill Country into the early hours of Friday morning.

Hard rains fell overnight around several hard-hit areas, including about 10 to 13 inches in Edwards, northern Uvalde and western Kerr counties. 

Several areas of concern remain in place across the region. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for parts of seven counties in West-Central Texas that received up to 3 inches of rain since midnight. 

Flash flood warnings for Kerr, Mason, Real and Edwards counties are set to expire at 9 a.m., with parts of Schleicher and Sutton counties set to expire at 9:45 a.m. and Crockett County at 10 a.m.

Overflowing rivers remain a concern, as the Guadalupe, Nueces and Pedernales rivers reached critical condition this week, exacerbating flooding in areas that had been awash in rain. 

Forecasters said conditions are poised to improve throughout Friday. Rainfall will ease, decreasing the likelihood of sustained emergency flash flooding, but saturated ground will leave the region’s rivers vulnerable to flooding. River levels for the Guadalupe and Pedernales dropped Friday — though they remain a concern as excess water travels downstream, forecasters said. 

“We are in the kind of wind-down phase, but we don’t want to put our guard down just yet,” said Emily Heller, a forecaster with the National Weather Service’s San Antonio office. “There’s still river flooding ongoing, and those flood waves are still working their way downstream.” 

Cities and areas that will experience flash flooding Friday morning, the weather service said, are Eldorado, Sonora, Ozona, Rocksprings, Camp Wood, Vance, Barksdale, Prade Ranch, Streeter, Grit, Camp Air, Katemcy, rural areas of Northeastern Edwards and Northwestern Kerr Counties, Devil`s Sinkhole State Natural Area, Kickapoo Cavern State Park.

The Texas Tribune contributed to this report.