AILSA CHANG, HOST:
At least two people has died in dangerous flooding that happened overnight in the Texas Hill Country. That is the same area where 130 people, including 25 young girls at a summer camp, died in a flood about a year ago. For days, the state has been pounded by heavy rain, which caused flooding in many places. Lucio Vasquez, reporter for the Texas Newsroom, is there and joins us now for more. Hi, Lucio.
LUCIO VASQUEZ, BYLINE: Yeah. Thanks for having me.
CHANG: So what is the latest that you're seeing at this point?
VASQUEZ: Yeah. Well, the rain has eased up for now. The Guadalupe River is still incredibly swollen, though. Along the river banks, you can see the trees bent over at almost 45 degree angles by the sheer force of the current. Search and rescue crews have been responding to calls throughout the day, and evacuation orders have been issued for some communities along the river, though it's still unclear as to how many people actually left.
There is some good news. I know you mentioned the deaths in this area last year. Since then, lawmakers (ph) have made safety changes, including flood sirens. And Governor Abbott says for the most part, those seem to be working.
CHANG: But what have people out there have been telling you as they're processing all of this flooding yet again?
VASQUEZ: You know, it's a mix of relief and exhaustion, like a feeling of...
CHANG: Yeah.
VASQUEZ: ...Deja vu. Though, people I spoke with told me that this time around, they've been receiving many more alerts on their phones, which was a point of contention in the wake of last year's flood.
I spoke with former Kerrville Mayor Jody (ph) - Judy Eychner this afternoon in front of the raging river. It was really loud, but she told me that last year's flood was like a tsunami because it came so suddenly, whereas this time, it's been days of relentless rain.
JUDY EYCHNER: What hurts me the most are the businesses that, this past year, were trying to recover from - and for a lot of them upstream, this is - they're ruined again. They're starting all - they will have to start all over again.
VASQUEZ: You know, she told me the scale of flooding is unlike anything she's witnessed in 35 years she's lived here. And I've heard the same sentiment from several people, that the river is different now, and part of that is climate change. Floods are becoming more frequent and severe in most of the U.S. because of more extreme precipitation, rather, and sea level rise.
And that severity was felt by Michelle Brown (ph). She's a truck driver from California who I met in the lobby of my hotel. She told me that she and her coworker were headed to Houston through the heavy rain when they pulled over to the side of the road and ended up getting swept into the rising water.
MICHELLE BROWN: We got stranded. There was other vehicles that got stranded. Fire and rescue got stranded. And then they eventually got us out. We ended up going to the hospital 'cause I got hit in the side by a tree.
VASQUEZ: Yeah. It's been a tough day, but she says she's doing OK for now.
CHANG: Oh, that's good to hear. OK. So do you know if this has been the worst of the rain and flooding, or is there still more to come?
VASQUEZ: You know, it might be too soon to say that the worst is over, but the heaviest rain has moved out of some of the hardest-hit areas. However, more rounds of showers and thunderstorms are expected through the night and into tomorrow morning. And even after the rain ends, it's not necessarily the end of the danger, since the water moving downstream can keep rivers rising for hours after the rain stops.
CHANG: Yeah, yeah. Well, how about cleanup going forward? Is that expected to take some time, you think?
VASQUEZ: I think so. You know, folks around here are still recovering from last year's flood - July 4 - and it was devastating after that one. So I can only assume that this will only add to that pressure. For now, though, this is still very much a search and rescue operation. And so we're going to have to wait and see until the water recedes to assess the true scale of the damage today.
CHANG: Yeah. That is Lucio Vasquez, reporter for the Texas Newsroom, speaking to us from Kerrville, Texas. Thank you so much, Lucio.
VASQUEZ: Thanks for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.