CENTER POINT, Texas – It’s been nearly a month since catastrophic flooding devastated the Texas Hill Country, killing over 100 people.
As you drive across Kerr County, it’s hard to miss the many trees that once stood tall, now lying lifeless after being uprooted by raging floodwaters.
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In Center Point, recovery efforts remain ongoing, and community members like L.A. Cud, 76, who has lived in the area for nearly 20 years, remain dedicated to rebuilding from the devastation.
Cud was awake the morning the flood hit. As he watched the flood waters rise, he knew he had to act quickly to get to safety.
“The best way to describe it right now is Fourth of July is not over for me yet,” he explained. “The water level was about nine to 10 feet above normal, and kayaks started coming up. Loose kayak started coming up the creek, okay, not going down the river.”
Cud grabbed his dog and headed for his car to higher ground. As he was leaving, water started to come into his home, rising at about seven inches a minute.
“There ain’t no way somebody could have screamed at me from anywhere in the water and me hearing it,” Cud said. “They would have been doing good to hear themselves scream.”
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From early in the morning to later in the evening, the center point native sat in his car watching the waters rise and fall over and over. Just before midnight, he was able to return to his home.
“I would have woken up in the bed and stepped out of the bed onto the floor, and that would have been when I discovered the water, because the surface of my bed was dry,” Cud recalled. “My pillow was dry. It’s just that I would have stepped out in 20 inches of water.”
Because of the floods, his home had to be completely gutted, leaving only memories within empty walls. But with the unwavering support of his granddaughter, the kindness of volunteers, and the bravery of first responders, he now turns his heart toward restoring the place where he and his wife raised their family. Amid the ruins, he holds on to gratitude, grateful above all that he made it out alive.
“When this house is finished, when the nightmare of the flood is over, the Fourth of July is over,” Cud concluded.
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Cud was just one of the many locals I had the privilege of connecting with during my time volunteering in Center Point.
He, along with others, shared heartfelt stories about the town’s resilience, the deep pain left by the storm, and an unwavering determination to rebuild. May their courage and spirit remind us all that even in the face of hardship, community and hope light the path forward.
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