Kerr County flood damage exceeds 2025 major-damage totals as courthouse recovery drags on

Kerr County officials reported Monday that more homes have suffered major damage from the July 16 flood than from the catastrophic July 2025 flood, even as the county continues to relocate basic operations from a flood-damaged courthouse that could remain partially closed for months.

Emergency Management Coordinator Shorey Harmon told commissioners that the ongoing damage assessment had recorded more than 1,500 iSTAT submissions — nearly double what had been communicated as of Friday — including 47 destroyed homes and 310 homes with major damage. Combined, that 357 total already surpasses the 353 homes destroyed or majorly damaged in the 2025 flood, even though far fewer homes were destroyed outright this year: 47, compared with 94 last year. Harmon cautioned the major-damage count is likely to keep climbing as residents continue submitting assessments, and stressed the process remains active and ongoing.

Later in the meeting, Todd Bock, executive director of the Kerr Economic Development Corporation and Kerr Together, warned that many residents filling out the state assessment tool are checking the box to not share their information, which prevents local long-term recovery teams and volunteer organizations from receiving their work orders. To get free help with sheetrock cutting, debris removal, muck-and-gut work or mold remediation, residents must allow their data to be shared, Bock said.

Courthouse still displaced

The meeting itself was held away from the county courthouse for a second consecutive week. The July 16 flood was a direct runoff event caused by roughly 28.5 inches of rain falling directly over the local area, rather than the river-driven flood of July 2025. Runoff flooded the courthouse basement with seven feet of water — the first time the basement has flooded in at least 33 years.

The basement remains contaminated and mold has already set in. The building’s elevator is inoperable and must be replaced, a process that could take six weeks to six months, and ADA access requirements mean the second floor can’t reopen until the elevator is fixed. The first floor is expected to stay closed for at least a month pending asbestos clearance, mold remediation and a follow-up “smell test.”

County departments have scattered across temporary locations: the Commissioners Court and court coordinator are operating out of the previous Kerrville Municipal Court Building; the county clerk moved to the west bay of the Hill Country Youth Event Center; the tax office relocated to the West Annex in Ingram; the district clerk and district judges are sharing a curtain-partitioned room on the HCYEC’s east side; and departments including the auditor, treasurer, JP 3, HR, veteran services, OSSF and crime victims advocates moved to 550 Earl Garrett.

Much of the County Attorney’s records survived digitally, but decades of historical property, tax and auditor records dating to the early 1900s were housed in the basement and are considered permanently lost — document restoration efforts have largely failed because ink bled off the water-damaged paper, and the records are slated for shredding.

An insurance silver lining

Amid the damage, county officials pointed to one piece of good news. Human Resources Director Sylvia Zapata reported that the county’s property insurance through the Texas Association of Counties carries a single $25,000 deductible covering the courthouse, sheriff’s office and AgriLife Extension office. The county has already received a $100,000 advance payment from the insurer to fund immediate office equipment needs, and the policy will cover clean-up and moving expenses.