Flood-ravaged Texas Hill Country home rebuilt after first responder's devastating loss

A century-old family home along the Guadalupe River was nearly lost in a devastating flood, but a San Antonio police officer and his wife are finally back home thanks to a community effort that rebuilt more than a house — it restored a piece of their family's history.  

A century-old family home swept away by Guadalupe River flooding

Mike Trolinger's family home has a century of history with it.

"My great-grandfather had settled on this hill," he said. "This property has been in my family for 100 years. My great-aunt and great-uncle had built this house along with my grandfather."

For Trolinger, there's nothing more familiar than the banks of the Guadalupe River.  

"I learned to swim in that river, my kids learned to swim in that river," he said.

And it's along this river where Trolinger, a San Antonio police officer, built a life. First, with the house he restored, piece by piece.

"Did all the trim and hung the doors. Did that on weekends, coming in from work from San Antonio. Did the flooring in a couple of weekends. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and equity in this house," he said.

He eventually got another set of hands with Brenda Espinoza, a colleague who would become his wife.

"I was a dispatcher, he worked narcotics," she said.

"I had the house, and then she comes along and makes it a home," said Trolinger.

A dream retirement in a dream home.  

From dream home to disaster

But faster than a rushing river, that dream became a nightmare when disastrous flooding hit Kerr County last summer.

"So that night, it started raining about 11 o'clock on the third," remembers Trolinger. "About 4:45 a.m., a neighbor called me and said, 'You awake?' I could hear the tone in her voice, and I said, 'I am now.'"

"I just remember being scared, not understanding what was happening, and he said we just have to get out of here," said Espinoza.

"We went out the back door, opened the back door, and a wall of water up to our waist had hit us, and we just held on to each other," said Trolinger.

"It was scary, and he just kept telling me to hold on," said Espinoza. 

They waded through waist-deep water and made it up the hill to where Trolinger's father lives.  

"Within 10 minutes, we watched the whole house get enveloped in water," said Trolinger.

Just like that, their dream was swept away.  

The flood couldn't stop his call to help

But the former San Antonio officer didn't stop. Once he knew Espinoza was safe, he went back to help.  

He found a woman stranded on her roof. The woman's 95-year-old mother was still inside in her bed.  

"She was paralyzed; she had floated. My husband went over there, broke the window, and with the help of somebody else, they got her out. He saved her life," said Espinoza.

"I was in law enforcement for 37 years, and those that are in law enforcement, first responders, firefighters – you don't think of yourself; you think of your neighbors, and you put them first. I got her safe, I knew she was fine, and then you just go into that mode of, well, who needs help?" said Trolinger.

But who helps the helpers like Trolinger and Espinoza when the water recedes? 

Community Foundation helps rebuild more than just a house

"I just remember coming down here and just seeing the devastation. Just seeing our stuff everywhere," said Espinoza, "The next day, me and Mike standing out there going 'What do we do, where do we start?'"

That's where the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country stepped in.

"The donor dollars that have come in to the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund are rebuilding homes, not houses," said Jayne Zirkel, the Chief Marketing Officer with the foundation. 

Eight months after the flood, Trolinger and Espinoza's nightmare turned into something they never expected: a $200,000 remodel of Trolinger's family home, complete at no cost to them.

"If it wasn't for that, I mean I could have done it, but I would have been in debt for the rest of my life," said Trolinger, "It's nice coming home and putting your feet down and going, 'We're home.'"

"We're home," Espinoza repeated. 

Espinoza and Trolinger are just one of the families back in their own home; the Community Foundation of Texas Hill Country has put 54 families back in their original home, and another 53 are on their way.