Two Dead and Scores Rescued as Flooding Engulfs Central Texas

As the Guadalupe River rose to treacherous levels in Comfort, Texas, on Thursday morning, emergency workers knocked on the door of Jodye Koopman’s recreational vehicle, not far from the muddy rushing waters, and told her it was time to go.

Ms. Koopman, 53, a retired librarian, found shelter at a nearby high school with her husband, sister, two children and four pets. She said that it had been difficult to leave her camper and most of her possessions behind and at the mercy of the bloated river and the relentless rain.

“I knew that it would rain,” Ms. Koopman said, acknowledging the deadly deluge in the area one year ago. “But last year was supposed to be the hundred-year flood. This is unexpected.”

Torrential rains have submerged much of Central Texas in floodwater, killing at least two people, forcing scores of people to evacuate their homes — some by helicopter — and leaving a trail of damage along the Guadalupe.

In Comfort, the river’s height reached up to 37 feet, according to the National Weather Service, rising more than 25 feet in one hour.

City and county officials all across the Texas Hill Country, particularly areas west and northwest of San Antonio, have issued flash flood warnings and evacuation notices, saying the conditions are “life threatening.”

One man died near Comfort after he was swept away in an R.V., and a woman in Uvalde died while driving, Gov. Greg Abbott said.

Emergency workers have rescued more than 230 people, Mr. Abbott said on Thursday evening, adding that more than 2,300 state workers had been deployed to respond to the flooding. He also said the rain was likely to break records and urged people to stay off the roads.

In photos and videos on social media, residents across Central Texas captured jarring scenes: deer bobbing their heads just above the rushing waters of Cibolo Creek; metal debris floating down a road in Ingram; and storefronts in small towns full of hopelessly damaged and waterlogged wares.

Many Texans who were affected were still reeling from last summer’s floods. “We’re unsure of what to do at this point,” said Haley Caswell, the general manager of Buck Wild Animal Rescue in Ingram, where she said her coops, pens and supplies had suffered serious damage — just as they did last year. “We did make a lot of progress,” she said of the recovery of her business since last summer, “but this is more than a setback.”

The Weather Service issued a rare high-risk forecast for excessive rain in parts of Central Texas on Thursday morning. It issues that level of alert only rarely, although it is not the first time it has done so this week. Over the past decade, some of the deadliest and most destructive floods have occurred in areas that forecasters said were at this level of risk.

Much of the rain had eased temporarily by Thursday afternoon, but scattered storms were still moving across the region, threatening more flash flooding on saturated ground. The rain was expected to pick up again overnight, and some of the hardest-hit areas could see as many as eight more inches.

Storms may continue into Friday, but the rain is expected to lighten, and drier conditions should arrive by early next week. That could bring some relief to a thoroughly soaked landscape; in some parts of Texas, rainfall totals since Monday have reached almost two feet.

In Kerrville, the Kerr County seat, residents were advised to shelter in place on Thursday. Barbara Walker, 56, who owns a flower shop there but lives 20 miles away, woke up early to the sound of pounding rain. Then came a text message with bad news: A tenant of the apartment above Ms. Walker’s shop, who was evacuated before dawn, shared some alarming photos.

“My shop is underwater,” Ms. Walker said.

Last year’s floods did not do nearly as much damage, she added. “This is something that has never ever, ever happened before.”

A judge in Kerr County signed a disaster declaration on Thursday, citing extensive damage to roads, sewers, homes and schools.

“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capability of Kerr County to control,” Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge, wrote in the declaration.

Heavy rain and flash flooding are not uncommon in Texas in mid-July. But this week’s rain brought painful memories of the catastrophic flood about a year ago in Central Texas that killed 139 people, including 25 campers from Camp Mystic, a girls’ camp on the Guadalupe River. Flash floods are now threatening the same area.

Joe Herring Jr., the mayor of Kerrville, said that lives had been saved this week by improved flood warning systems. Since last year’s tragedy, sirens have been installed along the Guadalupe River, and many residents took the evacuation warnings seriously. “This community has grit,” Mr. Herring said. “Not once, but twice.”

The Hill Country is part of an area known as Flash Flood Alley that is particularly susceptible to dangerous flooding because of its steep terrain and shallow soil that does not soak up much water.

In and around Uvalde, about 80 miles west of San Antonio and one of the cities most affected by flooding, officials closed major highways and many city streets, and ordered residents to shelter in place unless they were in immediate danger. Businesses along much of Main Street were closed as the water crept higher and higher overnight into Thursday.

Gat Mitchell, who co-owns a honey business in Uvalde, said that the rising floodwaters had soaked important paperwork, like invoices, and washed away thousands of dollars’ worth of inventory. “Jars spilled out,” he said. “Glass broke.”

The flooding has not been so bad in San Antonio, where he lives, he said. But the rain was adding up there, too, and the roads were a mess. “There was just wreck on wreck on wreck,” he said.

Residents there on Thursday were still making sense of the destruction left behind by a tornado the day before. It ripped through the Rim, a commercial center on the north side of the city, uprooting trees, battering the facade of a Marshalls store and tossing air-conditioners onto buildings.

Sally Palacios, a waitress at a nearby IHOP, said that she sensed something was wrong on Wednesday morning when the skies suddenly darkened and the doors began to tremble. “I felt scared,” she said. “Tornadoes are not something you see every day.”

The IHOP avoided the worst of the damage, said Adilynne De Leon, a manager there, but other businesses weren’t so lucky. “It looked like a movie,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Christine Hauser, Emma Schartz and Isabella Kwai contributed reporting.