They Rebuilt After Texas’ Devastating Floods. Then Their Home Flooded Again. by Emily Foxhall, The Texas Tribune Co-published with The Texas Tribune

They Rebuilt After Texas’ Devastating Floods. Then Their Home Flooded Again. Texas lawmakers repeatedly failed to take action that could have protected residents in flood-prone areas. That’s left Kerr County residents with difficult choices after two straight summers of flooding. by Emily Foxhall, The Texas Tribune Co-published with The Texas Tribune https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-flooding-2026-kerr-county?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=secondary “I grew up in Texas and have covered floods in this state for more than a decade. Still, the swift violence of that 2025 disaster struck me. The river washed entire homes away. People fought for their lives by grabbing trees or scrambling onto rooftops, and many people didn’t make it. I’ve never before witnessed such intense grief.”   — Emily Foxhall, The Texas Tribune After last summer’s deadly floods in Texas, Emily Foxhall, a climate reporter at The Texas Tribune, and ProPublica’s Lexi Churchill and Pratheek Rebala reported that Texas lawmakers repeatedly failed to pass legislation that could have protected residents in flood-prone areas. They asked the state’s top leaders about whether legislators should enact stricter statewide building rules — and none responded. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said he has addressed flooding issues by funding mitigation projects to lessen the storms’ impact. This summer, many of the same areas flooded again. Foxhall wrote about her conversations with Kerr County residents who have been forced to make difficult choices.