Tragic Events Bring Our Community Closer

 Tragic events bring our community closer

Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on July 18, 2025

The Worthington Lodge Near Kerrville, destroyed in the 1932 Flood. The Worthington Lodge was located
between Kerrville and Ingram, not far from where the intersection of Junction Highway and Methodist
Encampment is today

Witnessing an historic event during your life time can be either exhilarating or tragic. Over the past two weeks, our community, and many others across the Hill Country, have experienced living through a tragic historic event. It is a harrowing experience we wouldn’t wish on anyone or have to live through in the first place.

Flooding is part of life in the Texas Hill Country, a natural part of the ebb and flow of our ecosystem. Floods are important to maintain the “health” of our river and usually come after a long dry spell when the river is mucky.

While I have seen many floods in Kerr County, some of them destructive, the devastation caused by this year’s flood went beyond anything I have witnessed during my lifetime.

In recent days, you may have heard a lot of local historians mention the flood that occurred on July 1, 1932. I grew up hearing stories about that flood from older relatives who lived through the event. The weather that caused the flood in 1932 — heavy and prolonged rainfall over the Divide and the headwaters of the Guadalupe — were similar to what caused the July 4 flood this year.

In 1932, the town of Hunt took a direct hit, similar to what happened on July 4 — Camps Waltonia, Mystic, La Junta, Stewart and Heart of the Hills all suffered damage. Homes were lifted off their foundations in Ingram and sent floating down the river. The water in Kerrville rose so high that the basement of the Pampell’s building was flooded, and homes near the Veterans Hospital were washed away.

Above and below: Photos of Hunt, Texas after the 1932 Flood

In Center Point, the rising water was so swift it destroyed a metal and concrete bridge.

Bridge wreckage, 1932 Flood in Center Point

The loss of life was a lot lower in 1932. Only six people lost their lives during that flood.  I believe the difference in mortality can be attributed to time of day. The river began to rise in the late morning to early afternoon hours, in broad daylight.

While the power of the Guadalupe can be mighty, what I’ve seen in the compassion and willingness to step in and help during horrific circumstances has eclipsed that power. The stories of heroism and tireless efforts at recovery are a source of hope when everything around us seems hopeless.

There were heroes back in 1932 also, and I would like to talk about a few of them. 

When 17-year old Howell Priour was swept into the river at 2 p.m. on July 1, 1932, he managed to grab onto a giant cypress and climb into the upper branches, where he clung to the tree for 23 hours. On the morning of July 2, six men — Ben Calderon, B.P. Roberts, Homer Vivian, Cooper Fletcher, Charles Greenleaf and Mike Odell — were involved in the effort to save Priour from the tree.

Two men, Greenleaf and Odell, both tourists from out of town, lost their lives in the rescue attempt. Calderon, Roberts and Vivian were swept downstream but eventually swam to safety. It was Fletcher who made it to Priour with a waterproof box of food and first aid supplies strapped to his back. Cooper was able to render aid and give nourishment to the exhausted Priour until the water receded. When the floodwaters calmed considerably, Roberts and Vivian helped Cooper bring young Priour to shore.

Photos showing the tree (flood level and not flooded) where Howell Priour was marooned during the 1932 flood.
The tree was located in Louise Hayes Park, not far from the present-day dam.

Kerrville ham radio operators Gene Butt, Clarence Lawson, Jimmy Mitchell and J.O. McKnight were able to provide emergency communications when other systems were inoperable.

During the emergency, radio operators sent out 136 messages, most of them communications to relatives about the wellbeing of individuals marooned in remote places along the Guadalupe. Press dispatches were also sent out to the community by the amateur radio operators.

Among the messages sent by the radio operators was an account of the heroic death of Mike Odell to his family in Houston. Another emergency message handled by the ham radio operators was a notification from station KPRC of Houston to Mrs. R.F. Reagan, who lived above Hunt on the South Fork. The message was that her son was killed in an accident. Along with the notification was an inquiry on where a plane could be sent to fly her to Houston to be with her family.

Radio operators not only were part of the efforts to relay the message to Reagan, they also coordinated the effort to get her to the plane in Kerrville. The message was given to a “youth from Camp Stewart,” who took the message from Kerrville to Hunt. He traveled by car to Ingram, navigated the river in a canoe and walked the remaining distance to Reagan’s residence.

KPRC was advised to have a plane fly to Louis Schreiner Field in Kerrville at the earliest convenience and await the arrival of Reagan. She braved the floodwaters and took a boat to Hunt, where she got on a horse and rode to Ingram. She then traveled from Ingram to the Kerrville airport in a car.

It was mainly counselors from the boys’ camps in Ingram and Hunt who relayed messages from the radio operators in Kerrville to the flood ravaged areas in the western part of the county. These boys swam swollen streams, crossed the river in canoes and “trekked the weary miles over the hills” to get messages to and from those who were stranded.

Lakeside Park before and during the 32 flood. Lakeside Park was
located near G Street, about where the River Trail Cottages are today.

In 1932, more than 200 residents of Kerr County were left homeless from the flood. After the waters calmed and people could once again travel to Hunt and Ingram, the relief efforts began. While the Red Cross played a huge role in helping Kerr County rebuild, it was mostly local organizations and business owners who worked together to help their neighbors in need.

Local churches banded together, each congregation naming a woman to a committee responsible for gathering clothing, household items and other goods to be distributed to those who lost everything in the flood. The Kiwanis and Rotary clubs worked together to raise funds to help the community rebuild. A Flood Relief Finance Campaign was formed to raise money alongside the Red Cross efforts. Local businesses gave items from their stockrooms, including mattresses, furniture, dry goods and clothing to those who needed them.

I couldn’t find much in the old newspapers and books about the clean-up efforts, but I have no doubt that the community pitched in and worked together to clear the debris the Guadalupe deposited across the length of our county.

Like today, the flood of 1932 brought out the best in the residents of Kerr County, who pitched in and worked together to help recover from the devastation. The difference today is that news travels to a broader audience through social media, technology and television. Our community no longer has to face the aftermath alone. We have people reaching out to us from around the globe who want to help.

What I have witnessed these past two weeks, along with the horrific reality of a once-in-a-lifetime flood, was love. From risking your own life to save another’s to picking up a shovel and mucking out a flood ravaged theater, the outpouring of love expressed in our community is overwhelming — in a good way.

The people who live here who put their lives on hold to help neighbors, the relief workers from other communities and all of those who have reached out with aid of some kind are angels in our midst, representatives of the Creator during a very difficult time. I am so grateful for their help. Just like in 1932, our resilient county will recover from the unthinkable and we will do it together.