KERR COUNTY, Texas – Nearly three weeks after devastating floods tore through the Hill Country, residents in Kerr County say recovery efforts are moving too slowly — and they’re still surrounded by debris, destruction and uncertainty.
The floodwaters have receded, but massive piles of debris remain scattered across communities. For many residents, including Diane Ferguson and Brian Olsen, the cleanup delays are a painful reminder of lives lost, and livelihoods disrupted.
“It’s crazy what we have in our backyard, and it’s that way everywhere,” Ferguson said.
Olsen, who owns vacation rental cabins and a dog kennel, lost both sources of income in the storm.
“I realized that within a 45-minute period I lost two incomes,” he said.
Despite the financial toll, Olsen is grateful to have survived.
“And I personally know six people who passed away during the flood,” he said.
Olsen said he doesn’t want anything to be done prematurely, as people are still missing. However, he does want to take necessary steps to rebuild.
Debris removal would be step one, which was discussed during a Kerr County meeting Tuesday night.
“The debris removal along the major corridors is going to take place first,” County Commissioner Don Harris said during the meeting.
He also noted that residents must sign a right-of-entry form to allow contractors access to remove debris from private property.
Officials didn’t mention when contractors are going to arrive, and where those forms would be available.
“I can understand it’s very complicated, but yeah, we all want to sign that form as soon as possible and start to get this stuff cleaned up, because with all that debris on our property, we can’t move forward,” Olsen replied.
On Wednesday, county officials said they plan to begin sharing details on the next phase of debris removal by next week.
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