{"id":361754,"date":"2026-07-05T11:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T11:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/361754\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T11:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T11:59:13","slug":"for-central-texas-flood-survivors-recovery-is-storm-after-the-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/361754\/","title":{"rendered":"For Central Texas flood survivors, recovery is ‘storm after the storm’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reminders of the\u00a0family<\/a> Terry Traugott and Sherry McCutcheon\u2019s lost in last year\u2019s Central Texas floods<\/a> are everywhere in their Manor home.<\/p>\n

Their momma\u2019s pink cane, covered with dirt they can\u2019t yet wipe off. The burnt-out living room light bulb because their brother, Gary, always changed it. An incomplete puzzle their mother worked on. The sisters can\u2019t finish it without her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Brianna<\/p>\n

Brianna Hunter pulls her friend Ashlee Willis in a trailer after spending several hours removing invasive weeds and grasses from Willis’s mother Brandy Gerstner’s property on Sunday, June 14, 2026 in Leander. Weeds and invasive grasses are being cleared so new tree saplings can be planted along Sandy Creek.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Attendees<\/p>\n

Attendees give a standing ovation at the dedication of Burnet County ESD No. 6 Station #2, Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s new fire station on June 27, 2026. The fire station will be named the Michael\u00a0E. Phillips Fire Station in honor of the former fire chief who went missing while responding to a call during the July 5 flooding last year.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Marble<\/p>\n

Marble Falls Fire Chief Derrick Curtis speaks at the dedication of Burnet County ESD No. 6 Station #2, Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s new fire station as the station is reflected in his glasses, June 27, 2026. The fire station will be named the Michael E. Phillips Fire Station in honor of the former fire chief who went missing while responding to a call during the July 5 flooding last year.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Ashlee<\/p>\n

Ashlee Willis creates a pile of pulled weeds on her mother Brandy Gerstner’s property on Sunday, June 14, 2026 in Leander. Weeds and invasive grasses are being cleared so new tree saplings can be planted along Big Sandy Creek.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Burnet<\/p>\n

Burnet County Sheriff\u2019s Office Chief Deputy Alan Trevino talks to community members at the dedication of Burnet County ESD No. 6 Station #2, Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s new fire station, June 27, 2026. The fire station will be named the Michael E. Phillips Fire Station in honor of the former fire chief who went missing while responding to a call during the July 5 flooding last year.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Gregg<\/p>\n

Gregg Gerstner moves a trailer of invasive grasses and weeds off of his and his wife Brandy Gerstner\u2019s property on Sunday, June 14, 2026 in Leander. Weeds and invasive grasses are being cleared so new tree saplings can be planted along Sandy Creek.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Ashlee<\/p>\n

Ashlee Willis removes invasive weeds and grasses on her mother Brandy Gerstner’s property on Sunday, June 14, 2026 in Leander. Weeds and invasive grasses are being cleared so new tree saplings can be planted along Big Sandy Creek.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

On July 5, 2025, McCutcheon and Traugott lost their momma, Betty Massey West, 84, and brothers, Doug West, 54, and Gary Traugott, 60, when a raging flood in northwest Travis County destroyed their family home and claimed their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

The sisters spent the day with their mom on July 4, eating Chinese food and drinking Diet Cokes, sharing memories and watching fireworks through the rain on their way home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last day she spent with us. It was so weird, it was like magic. I felt love so thick, almost like you could cut it,\u201d McCutcheon said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want her to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hours after the sisters dropped their mom at home, water from Big Sandy Creek poured into the house. In the historic July 5, 2025, flood, 18 people in Central Texas died,\u00a0including 10 in Travis County.<\/a> A day before, a devastating flood killed more than 100 people in Kerr County<\/a>, about 130 miles west of Austin.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

OPINION: The flood ended a year ago. Sandy Creek\u2019s emergency continues<\/a><\/p>\n

One year later, almost no one in Travis County has begun to rebuild. Roads and river banks are weaker than before July 5, 2025, and families are living in temporary housing closer to the flood zone as they wait for permit approval, insurance awards, safety measures and state and federal aid, multiple survivors told the American-Statesman.<\/p>\n

Despite new emergency state legislation<\/a> that requires counties to install warning sirens and flood gauges in flood-prone areas, the community is without those resources. It could be until 2027<\/a> before the county installs them.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A cross is placed near Big Sandy Creek on the property of Brandy\u00a0Gerstner on Sunday, June 14, 2026 in Leander. On the morning of July 5, 2025, heavy rain caused flash flooding that destroyed and damaged homes in and around the Sandy Creek neighborhood in Leander. The cross was placed by a church group near the former homesite of residents that died in the flood.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still very much in triage,\u201d said\u00a0Ashlee Willis, a flood survivor. \u201cBetween cleanup, fighting with insurance, bullying the government and just trying to stay alive while glamping in campers that aren\u2019t meant to be lived in 24\/7 \u2026 bureaucracy does not move at the pace of crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Traugott and McCutcheon said they couldn\u2019t begin grieving until months later, consumed by cleanup, insurance claims, estate matters and funeral planning. They are selling their mother\u2019s property, which they couldn\u2019t afford to rebuild on\u00a0\u2014 just like dozens of other homeowners in the region.<\/p>\n

Willis, who helped form a group of survivors called the Sandy Creek Alliance, estimates only two of Sandy Creek\u2019s 74 destroyed homes have been rebuilt. Only five of 12 infrastructure projects planned around Travis County crossings damaged during the disaster have been completed, leaving several low-water crossings vulnerable if another severe storm strikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think that living through a disaster is the worst thing you ever experience,\u201d said Willis\u2019 mom, Brandy Gerstner. \u201cSurviving the disaster is the easy part. It\u2019s a storm after the storm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018All gone\u2019<\/p>\n

Sandy Creek is country through and through. It\u2019s a low-income, gritty community near\u00a0Leander, where families on multi-acre plots have lived for decades, drawn to the privacy provided by towering trees and the beauty of creekside views.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

But last July, that all changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What started as steady rain on the Fourth of July turned into a flash flood emergency<\/a> just after midnight on July 5. The\u00a0creek rose 15 feet<\/a> in three hours, with water powerful enough to rip homes from their foundations and destroy vehicles.<\/p>\n

Willis and her friends\u00a0\u2014 who were in Willis\u2019 home on her mother\u2019s farm\u00a0\u2014 survived by gripping to pool tables inside her floating house, as others clung to tree limbs and fences. Willis could not reach her mom, despite her house being only feet away, or her aunt, who lived across the creek.<\/p>\n

COLUMN: One year after the flood, they\u2019re taking Big Sandy Creek back<\/a><\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

By morning, three houses, five cars, the family spice business, livestock and nearly everything else on the property were destroyed. Only the greenhouse remained standing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn one night, in a matter of hours, it was all gone,\u201d Gerstner said.<\/p>\n

\"RVs<\/p>\n

RVs and carports are set up on Brandy Gerstner\u2019s property as temporary homes on Sunday, June 14, 2026 in Leander. On the morning of July 5, 2025, heavy rain caused flash flooding that destroyed and damaged homes in and around the Sandy Creek neighborhood in\u00a0Leander.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Traugott and McCutcheon arrived frantically to their mother\u2019s house Saturday morning, as soon as first responders opened the roads. As they drove down the driveway, closer to the creek, they saw their mother\u2019s house of 47 years completely destroyed, and to the left of it,\u00a0her momma\u2019s Cadillac standing straight up in the ground, thick with mud.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

One year later, rebuilding has progressed unevenly across Central Texas. In Kerr County, where the worst flooding occurred, 130 homes<\/a> have been rebuilt, and 98 are on \u201cactive pathways\u201d to rebuilding, according to a local community foundation. Through fundraising, more than $150 million has been donated toward the effort, with $82 million immediately directed to recovery<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Williamson County has seen a fraction of that community support, with just $1.8 million raised for recovery efforts. Of the initial 38 destroyed homes and 700 properties that needed repairs and rebuilding in Liberty Hill and Georgetown, only 5 cases remain open, Williamson County Judge Steven\u00a0Snell said.<\/p>\n

\"Travis<\/p>\n

Travis County Road & Bridge workers talk about rebuilding Juniper Trail after it was washed out by Big Sandy Creek after heavy rain on Monday, June 15, 2026 in\u00a0Leander, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

In Sandy Creek, life is not the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Nearly 95% of the Travis County homes affected by the July 5 disaster did not have flood insurance, meaning homeowners have had to rely heavily on public assistance and donations, said Janis Bookout of the Travis County Recovery Alliance, a new group focused on helping meet long-term recovery needs in Big Sandy Creek.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Travis County officials estimate that, as of June 2026, 115 properties were affected by the flood, but the county has only received 19 permit applications to rebuild. Just 10 permits have been granted. Although the county waived permit fees, applications still require extensive paperwork and can take months to approve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some homeowners who didn\u2019t have flood insurance are living in moldy, flood-soaked houses or\u00a0RVs, Willis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State lawmakers rushed to pass emergency legislation weeks after the floods to mandate warning sirens and flood gauges, but Travis County has yet to install them and has until the end of 2027 to comply.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Even with flood insurance, Willis and her family are still waiting for their payout. When it comes, she\u2019s not sure the damaged road by her house will be wide enough for trucks to pass through. The county hasn\u2019t given a timeline for to permanently fix that road. It\u2019s the only way in or out of her property.<\/p>\n

Willis and her family live in a camper that is closer to the water\u2019s edge than their old houses\u00a0\u2014 putting them in greater danger than before, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBureaucracy is slow, but this is ridiculous,\u201d Willis said. \u201cYou\u2019re talking about two flood seasons through September 2027 before I get a siren or a gauge? It\u2019s been a year, and I don\u2019t have a low water crossing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Water<\/p>\n

Water flows across Old Spicewood Springs Road after heavy rain on Monday, June 15, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Why has no one rebuilt?<\/p>\n

After county commissioners approved an emergency tax increase<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the maximum allowed without voter approval\u00a0\u2014 Travis County now has $42 million extra to spend on flood relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

About $28 million will cover infrastructure improvements and debris removal, Travis County Judge Andy Brown said. The county says the rest of the funding will be used to make infrastructure more resilient because it cannot give public money directly to flood survivors.<\/p>\n

Federal rebuilding requirements remain a major obstacle, said Marc Corinth, a contractor who led volunteer operations<\/a> in Sandy Creek. The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires houses that are more than half destroyed to be elevated to current standards when they rebuild\u00a0\u2014 a cost of at least $100,000, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho pays for that? The homeowner,\u201d Sandy Creek resident Kaleena Schumaker<\/a> said.\u201cAnd then at the same time, the homeowner that\u2019s replacing their home has to also pay higher taxes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The county set up a short-term recovery fund with the Central Texas Community Foundation, which distributed $6 million to about 200 residents who applied for relief. Everyone who applied received some award, and the maximum given was $100,000, executive director Amy\u00a0Merida said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cEven $100,000 is not enough to rebuild a life when you\u2019re looking at a $500,000 loss. It\u2019s a fraction of what you might need,\u201d Merida said.<\/p>\n

Sandy Creek residents also received a total of $4.3 million in housing support from FEMA, said Bookout with the Travis County Recovery Alliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For months after July 5, Traugott and McCutcheon sat under a blue tent on their family\u2019s destroyed property, recovering any items they could and making piles of soaked trash to throw away. They spent days waiting for their brothers to be found.<\/p>\n

The sisters had to take leave from work for six months, drain their savings for recovery and funeral preparations and live off gift cards and donations until they could return to their jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

They knew they could not afford to rebuild. But when a \u201cFor Sale\u201d sign went up in front of her momma\u2019s property in April\u00a0\u2014 after the funerals, the cleanup and time spent removing debris and reworking the land\u00a0\u2014 Traugott sobbed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy momma knows we\u2019ll go broke doing this, trying to hang in,\u201d Traugott said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Marble<\/p>\n

Marble Falls Fire Chief Derrick Curtis speaks at the dedication of Burnet County ESD No. 6 Station #2, Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s new fire station, June 27, 2026. The fire station will be named the Michael E. Phillips Fire Station in honor of the former fire chief who went missing while responding to a call during the July 5 flooding last year.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

What made the difference\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today in Sandy Creek, wildflowers bloom, and tall grasses cover the ripped-up earth. There is still debris, but it is fewer and farther between.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

In the early days, hundreds of volunteers took on the burden of recovery and cleanup work<\/a>, residents said. With no timeline for county-installed warning systems, residents are building their own sirens, Willis said.<\/p>\n

Schumacher said it\u2019s the neighbors who make her want to stay. In the early days after the flood, Schumacher\u2019s house became a waystation, with volunteers providing hot meals, supplies and relief for anyone who needed it under donated blue tents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her next-door neighbor moved, too scared of the creek when it rained. Although Schumacher is scared, too, she doesn\u2019t doubt her decision to stay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our safe place, and it shouldn\u2019t have been flooded,\u201d Schumacher said. \u201cI\u2019m committed to the rebuild because of the community that\u2019s out here \u2026 I mean, this community is like no other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

With their mother\u2019s property still on the market, Traugott and McCutcheon keep in touch with new loved ones, like Willis, who watches the land for them while they are gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost so many, but yet we\u2019ve gained a whole new family out there,\u201d Traugott said. \u201cThe Bible says that what you lose, you\u2019ll get doubled back, and it didn\u2019t replace them by any means, but at the same time, it sort of put us back together. It\u2019s helped us heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A community member holds his hat during a closing prayer at the dedication of Burnet County ESD No. 6 Station #2, Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s new fire station, June 27, 2026. The fire station will be named the Michael E. Phillips Fire Station in honor of the former fire chief who went missing while responding to a call during the July 5 flooding last year.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Vision for the future<\/p>\n

Willis sits on the board of the new Travis County Recovery Alliance, a group working to coordinate rebuilding resources, raise money and support long-term recovery. The group is hosting a fundraiser on July 18<\/a> to support those efforts.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Gerstner, terrified of public speaking, has delivered testimony before lawmakers in Washington, D.C. and Kerr County<\/a> on the importance of investing in FEMA and flood warning sirens. She and Willis are advocating for the creation of the Texas Forever Fund, a $500 million state fund for disaster relief.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all see the glaring holes in the system, and we are stepping up to fill them, because this cannot be what it is,\u201d Willis said. \u201cWe can\u2019t take back what\u2019s happened in Sandy Creek, we can\u2019t go back in time and fix it, but we can make sure it doesn\u2019t happen to anyone else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Travis County has learned important lessons<\/a> over the past year, Brown, the county judge, said. Since the floods, the county has hired two case managers to help residents navigate recovery, expanded 24-hour mental health support<\/a>, improved its existing alert system and identified infrastructure improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents feel very frustrated, and I completely understand why, because recovery is personal, and when your home or your livelihood is affected, every single delay feels significant,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAnd so my message is that we remain committed to supporting recovery efforts, listening to residents, and continuing the work until it\u2019s complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Others are reclaiming the land in their own way. By sunup last July 5, the home Wren Bates and her mom, Robin, had evacuated<\/a> was pushed against two trees. Two neighboring houses, with people still inside, had slammed into it.<\/p>\n

Robin Bates, heartbroken over the lost memories of her husband, who died six months before the flooding, can\u2019t come back to her farm. But thinking about the land and all the memories she built there, her daughter Wren had to.<\/p>\n

Although the house, the vineyards and a shop where her father would work on airplanes were gone, the land remained.<\/p>\n

As her mom moved to neighboring Jonestown, Wren retreated to an RV on the property and committed to staying and overseeing recovery. Despite the wreckage and the lingering smell of floodwater, she envisioned not a rebuild, but a renewal:\u00a0repurposing the land as a gathering, communal space for peace.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cI could feel the land weeping with us,\u201d Wren said. \u201cI felt so protective about everything that remained.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year later, Wren is gardening. Tall grass fills the property, dotted by yellow sunflowers. An Austin nonprofit will plant hundreds of trees in her yard later this year.<\/p>\n

Without the house on the property, she can afford to buy the land from her mom. She has rebuilt her father\u2019s shop, where she felt closest to him. Eventually, she\u2019d like there to be a quilting studio, a food forest and a community garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to turn this land into somewhere where they can all enjoy it, and it can change that memory of the hardness, the smell of the flood, to something more positive, where they can again bond with and trust the land and not be so afraid to be near it,\u201d Wren said. \u201cI want people to be able to come here and make new memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

It is a common sentiment. Gerstner came to Sandy Creek 36 years ago. A former foster kid and single mother, she dreamed of a place that her people could always depend on. In the decades since she arrived, she built Asher Acres, an oasis that visitors have called \u201cEden,\u201d complete with gardens, an in-ground pool and gorgeous trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When she first bought the seven-acre plot, Gerstner dreamed of a greenhouse, something she joked would only happen \u201cwhen pigs fly.\u201d But in time, the family made it come true, and Willis got her a pig statue with wings to commemorate that moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt actually made it through the storm,\u201d Willis said about the statue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some days it\u2019s hope that motivates her. Other days it\u2019s anger. Often, it\u2019s the purple \u201cflags of hope\u201d on the property that mark the outline of the houses they hope to rebuild.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to stop dreaming,\u201d Willis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPigs will fly again,\u201d Gerstner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Willis nodded. \u201cPigs will fly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reminders of the\u00a0family Terry Traugott and Sherry McCutcheon\u2019s lost in last year\u2019s Central Texas floods are everywhere in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-361754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}