224 DWI arrests, 46 smoke shops, and two floods: the Hill Country Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse is watching the numbers climb

Leah Westra brought numbers to Thursday’s broadcast that the community needed to hear.

Through Aug. 2, Kerr County had recorded 224 drunk-driving bookings in 2026. July — in the immediate aftermath of the July 16 flood and less than two weeks past the first anniversary of the July 4, 2025, disaster — produced 50 DWI arrests, the highest single-month total of the year. June had 26. May had 32. April had 28.

Forty of those 224 arrests were for felony charges — third offense or beyond.

“We know that a lot of people go to alcohol or drugs for comfort,” said Westra, Coalition Coordinator and Prevention Specialist for the Hill Country Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. “They’re drinking because they’re sad or upset or trying to deal with hard emotions. Stressors exacerbate that.”

Westra appeared Thursday on Lead Live’s Nonprofit Week to describe an organization that operates three distinct programs under a single 501(c)(3) umbrella. The group deploys youth educators into local schools to teach brain health and addiction science, and coordinates the Thrive Kerr County coalition, which has focused in part on restricting vaping near school campuses. Recovery pairs vetted peer coaches — people with lived experience of addiction — alongside individuals working toward sobriety, providing free support with rent, groceries, and daily stability. Treatment delivers court-mandated chemical dependency counseling and minor-in-possession classes on a sliding scale to keep access equitable.

The organization also tracks the local retail landscape. As of June 30, Kerr County had 46 registered hemp retailers — 8.5 stores per 10,000 residents. Neighboring Kendall County had 23. The density is driven by a legislative loophole that permits the sale of highly potent synthetic THC products. Many of those products — drinks and gummies with packaging that resembles mainstream beverages — are actively marketed to minors. Some single cans contain up to 20 servings of THC.

Westra described the employment paradox contributing to the proliferation: many members of the local recovery population carry felony records that bar them from conventional employment. Hemp retail stores hire them. The community ends up with people in recovery staffing shops that sell products associated with relapse.

“Vaping is not safer than smoking,” Westra said. “Because of the higher nicotine or THC levels in vaping, you are becoming addicted.”

HCCADA’s building on the Goat Creek Road corridor did not flood. Its parking lot did — cleared of debris including, by Westra’s account, a cooler lodged in a tree, a baby picture, and a baseball card.

Westra broadcasts weekly on a “Wellness Wednesday” segment on Mike FM and serves on the Kerr Together long-term flood recovery coordinating group. Her organizing philosophy is simple.

“The best treatment for people in addiction is community,” she said. “Someone walking beside you, invested in you, calling you up and saying: ‘Hey, are you okay? How do we deal with it? You’re not alone.’ That is all free.”