KERRVILLE, Texas — A lost kitten proved one thing too many for a Kerrville area homeowner with whom Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) Disaster Relief (DR) chaplain Debby Nichols spoke in the days following the July 4 flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country.

The man told Nichols he was at home when the Guadalupe River began rising. As he walked toward his truck, the deafening sound of the raging storm and roaring water overwhelmed him. The kitten didn’t answer his calls. He broke down. He knew his losses were not as significant as those of others, but the weight of grief still rested heavy on him.

This dreadful thing had happened in his community, in his backyard.

As of Thursday morning (July 10), historic flash flooding in the region had claimed more than 120 lives, with 160 people still missing. Among those killed were 27 girls and counselors at Camp Mystic in nearby Hunt.

Nearly as quickly as the floodwaters rose, they subsided within a few days, leaving unthinkable destruction: foundations bereft of buildings, RVs crushed and structures swept away.

“We cannot comprehend the force of the water,” Nichols said.

She and fellow chaplains and volunteers, part of the larger Southern Baptist DR response, are in Kerrville and Ingram to prepare and serve hot meals, pray with and for all they meet, and provide hot showers and laundry services to first responders.

And to listen.

Ears to hear

“Most of the first responders I have talked to are still in work mode,” Nichols said. “They have not stopped to reflect on what is going on here. They are on automatic pilot. They are just working. At some point in time, they are going to rest, step back, take a deep breath and think, ‘My word, what just happened here?’”

Nichols noted that sometimes even chaplains need to talk, noting that a Dallas-Fort Worth area fire department chaplain shared his experience with her. Monday was a really hard day, the chaplain explained to her. Rescuers had found 20 bodies, bringing them up one at a time.

“I’m doing fine. I see this stuff all the time,” a state trooper told the fire department chaplain.

“No, you don’t. You don’t see this every day,” the chaplain replied. The trooper paused.

“I was OK… until that mother fell on her knees praying over her deceased daughter,” he admitted.

Nichols assured the fire department chaplain that when any of the rescue workers needed a quiet place to rest, eat a hot meal and get away for a short while, the parking lot of First Baptist Church (FBC) Kerrville — where SBTC DR volunteers had set up an operations hub — offered a shady spot for a respite.

“I invited them to the church. We’ll feed them and talk to them and let them be alone. It’s comfortable, quiet and safe,” she said.

A hometown tragedy

Originally the plan was for Nichols and others to minister to people as they came to the church for food. When fewer than expected came, church member Helen Starek, whose husband is a volunteer firefighter, stepped in to arrange for the distribution of meals.

“She knew where to go and who needed help,” Nichols said. Helen suffered no property loss, so she wanted to help. With her teenage children and friends, she has stayed busy delivering three SBTC DR-prepared meals a day since the tragedy.

“Many of these we are seeing were not affected physically. They didn’t lose property or even electricity, but it’s their hometown, their backyard. Everyone is grieving,” Nichols said, adding that DR volunteers had talked to some whose homes had flooded and informed them of ways SBTC DR can help, free of charge, to remove the sodden damage.

“We are here searching for the needs,” said Terry James, who arrived in Kerrville on July 8 as part of the SBTC DR administrative team. “So many places we cannot get into yet.”

“So many of the victims were vacationers and campers,” added Debra Britt, SBTC DR incident leader.

Meeting needs

Volunteer C.J. Terry, on her first SBTC DR deployment, is helping staff a shower and laundry unit based in Ingram, next to the fire station. The unit has provided dozens of showers and done multiple loads of laundry, mostly in support of search and rescue volunteers and officers on horseback.

“Where we are (in Ingram) was underwater five days ago,” Terry said. “The horseback riders come off the river and are looking for a shower and clean clothes. One officer said he had packed for three days and had been here five. He was grateful for clean clothes and a shower yesterday.”

Meanwhile, the gym area at FBC Kerrville has been established as a Federal Emergency Management Agency resource center that will serve as a base of operations for numerous aid agencies, Britt said.

“Everybody wants to do something and they don’t know what to do,” Nichols said. “Prayer is our first defense. Everyone can pray.”

And there’s lots to pray for. On Wednesday, SBTC DR volunteers witnessed a helicopter airlifting yet another victim.

“I do fine when I am in the situation,” Nichols said, “but when I get back, when I go to my church and they ask me to tell them about what happened down here, I am going to say, ‘Give me a week.’”

There was one bright spot, she added.

The lost kitten was found.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This article originally appeared in the Southern Baptist TEXAN.)