The Guadalupe River in Comfort, Texas, reached higher levels on Thursday than it did during last year’s devastating July 4 floods, but a Kendall County official told CNN this year’s situation feels completely different.
“This year, we’re just standing by, waiting for any type of calls to come in for help,” Commissioner Chad Carpenter said. As of midday Thursday, Kendall County has assisted in evacuations, but no deaths have been reported, Carpenter said.
There are also no reports of missing people in the county, Kendall County Deputy Fire Marshal Brady Constantine told reporters at a later news conference.
Kendall County is downstream from neighboring Kerr County, which was hit hard last year. In the aftermath of the Fourth of July floods, several victims from farther upstream were discovered in Kendall County amid massive search efforts.
Officials have activated flood sirens and pushed phone alerts throughout the region, according to Carpenter. State leaders also sent a surge of resources to the area ahead of time to help.
“I think everyone is more alert,” he said, comparing the situation to last year. “People were up all night ready and waiting to respond.”
