After a year of repairs, a Guadalupe River homeowner faces flood damage again

After spending more than a year repairing her home from last year's devastating Guadalupe River flood, Kara Doctor thought she was finally nearing the end of the recovery process.

Instead, she is facing flood damage once again.

Doctor, who lives in Center Point near Kerrville, was awakened early Thursday morning by emergency responders warning residents to evacuate as the Guadalupe River rapidly rose.

"I went to bed last night and saw red and blue flashing lights this morning," Doctor said. "They told us, 'The river's coming. We gotta get out. You gotta get out now.'"

The flooding comes just as Doctor was preparing to complete the final repair from last year's disaster. Her contractor was scheduled to finish work on the home's fireplace, the last remaining project after extensive remediation and repairs following the July 4 flood in 2024.

"The only thing left was my fireplace to finish out," she said. "He was going to come up and finish that out, so I texted him this morning and said, 'Don't bother.'"

Final repair project halted by new floodwaters

When Doctor returned home after the evacuation, she found that floodwaters had once again entered her house.

"When we came down, opened up the doors and saw that the water had gotten up about 2½ feet inside," she said.

The flooding has brought back painful memories of last year's disaster. The sound of industrial drying fans has returned to her home, along with mud and uncertainty about what comes next.

"I could sit here and cry, and I have for most of the day, but we gotta keep on," Doctor said.

Flooding revives trauma from last year's disaster

The property has been in her family for generations. Nearby homes occupied by her parents and brother also sit along the river.

"It is my dream house. It's supposed to be my forever home," she said.

The latest flood may have damaged newly purchased furniture and furnishings, while a recently built riverside deck has been washed away. If she chooses to rebuild, Doctor estimates she could spend another year away from her home.

But beyond the physical damage, she says, repeated flooding has shaken her confidence in living near the river.

"They said that was a 500-year flood," Doctor said of last year's disaster. "Two years in a row kind of makes me nervous to rebuild, to try to settle back in."

Homeowner weighs future after back-to-back floods

Now, she is weighing a difficult decision.

"Is it worth it to try and rebuild again? Man, I don't know. It's traumatic, to say the least," she said. "No matter how beautiful it is on some of those calm days, I still will have this in the back of my head, sadly."

Doctor says she plans to take time before deciding whether to rebuild, a choice facing some residents along the Guadalupe River after back-to-back floods.