Signs of progress across Kerr County as recovery settles into a rhythm

Three days after Thursday’s flood, Kerr County’s recovery is shifting from emergency response into the slower, grinding work of cleanup — and Sunday brought visible signs of progress alongside a wave of community support for the small businesses still fighting to reopen.

Gibson’s Discount Center: Day 3 of cleanup

General Manager Doug Hetzler gave a video update Sunday on the store’s recovery, reporting real progress even with a long road still ahead.

“We had a great day of progress today,” Hetzler said. “It’s already looking so much better. Obviously, as I said before, there’s still a long way to go.”

• Crews have removed all bottom shelves to expose and clean underneath them; a professional cleanup crew is scheduled to begin vacuuming and sanitizing those areas
• The team is focused on getting the first four or five aisles completely clean first, creating a dry staging zone to temporarily hold merchandise while the rest of the store is cleaned
• Employees are building a plastic-partitioned “dehumidifier zone” to dry out and salvage surviving clothing inventory; the toy department, with thousands of products, still needs significant work
• The garden center has been mostly cleared of damaged items, and crews washed down a sidewalk that had been covered in mud, weeds and fish washed up by the floodwaters
• Three to four inches of standing water remain in the sporting goods section, where crews are working in teams with squeegees to push it out. “This is day three, I think,” Hetzler said. “We still have probably three or four inches of water back there. This is how they do it — they just get squeegees and push all the water in teams.”

Pets: reunifications climbing, shelter space managed carefully

Karen Guerriero of Kerrville Pets Alive gave a Sunday morning update from the organization’s S.A.F.E. Campus.

• As of Sunday morning: 9 pets still missing, 8 found, and 11 successfully reunited with their owners
• Kerrville Pets Alive is transporting 26 cats to Austin Pets Alive to keep local shelter space open for incoming flood-affected animals
• 16 owned pets remain in protective custody at the local animal control facility; as of 7 p.m. Saturday, zero cats remained at that facility thanks to coordinated transport efforts
• Residents who’ve lost or found a pet should fill out the form on Kerrville Pets Alive’s website or social media pages. For a pet in immediate distress, Guerriero said to call law enforcement directly — Kerrville Police Department inside city limits, or the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office in the county — rather than animal control

Where to eat today, and who needs your business

• Mercy Chefs has moved to a new location: Cross Kingdom Church, 3044 Junction Hwy, Kerrville. Free drive-thru meals, lunch 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and dinner 4-6 p.m. The organization says it’s continuing to assess needs and will announce additional distribution sites as they’re identified.
• Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is offering its second dining room, which seats 50, free of charge for anyone who needs space for meetings or group gatherings — no purchase necessary, just call ahead to coordinate. The Kerrville location, staffed by a crew of 10 locals, says a team member had water inside their home this week and two others had vehicles flooded to mid-tire. It’s Kids Eat Free Sunday, and first responders eat free as well.
• Tailchasers Patio + Pub is open today, with the FIFA final airing at 2 p.m. and $4 Dos Equis all day. The bar thanked community volunteers who helped clear crushed granite washed into its backyard by the flood, saying this year’s flooding hit local businesses harder than 2025’s.
• Kerrville Hills Winery at Schreiner University is open 1-6 p.m. today.

Also today

The Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau suffered damage to its offices after a nearby stream flooded, and will move to a temporary headquarters.

Addresses in need of assistance