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Priscilla Rice<\/p>\n
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KERA News<\/p>\n
A Virgin of Guadalupe statue in the Chula Vista subdivision sits in front of an empty home that was damaged by flooding. <\/p>\n
Water covered roads and filled residential streets along the waterways. More than a hundred homes were damaged, shocking a community where few residents have ever experienced flooding.<\/p>\n
The disaster hit just after Texas marked the one year anniversary of 2025\u2019s catastrophic flooding. More than 130 people died, mostly along the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country.<\/p>\n
But this year\u2019s storm spread across a wider geographic area, filling even more of the state\u2019s iconic rivers. Crystal City was one of dozens of tiny South Texas towns to be inundated with floodwaters.<\/p>\n
While camaraderie is rich in this rural community, resources are limited. Crystal City is the seat of Zavala County, which has one of the highest poverty rates in the state. Now, many residents who were already struggling financially, are picking up the pieces as they wait for aid.<\/p>\n
Also limited in Crystal City: rainfall. Drought isn\u2019t uncommon.<\/p>\n
These factors all made last month\u2019s flooding even more devastating and surprising.<\/p>\n
Neighbors and volunteers band together\u00a0for recovery<\/p>\n
The town, long ago nicknamed \u201cthe spinach capital of the world,\u201d counts ranching, farming and Mexican American culture as key elements of its identity. A Popeye statue has guarded Crystal City\u2019s municipal buildings since the 1930s.<\/p>\n
That area, including the historic town square and courthouse were spared in last month\u2019s flooding.<\/p>\n
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A Popeye statue in front of the municipal buildings in Crystal City has been a staple in the community since the late 1930s. <\/p>\n
The Sagebrush Motel has become one of several community hubs for Crystal City residents who\u2019ve lost everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve had an influx of people,\u201d said Darien Thompson, the 50-room hotel\u2019s manager. \u201cWhen it first started we had pretty much the whole hotel full.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right now, she estimates five or six rooms are still occupied by displaced residents. According to the Zavala County Sheriff\u2019s Office, some 180 structures saw damage from floodwaters, ranging from minimal to severe.<\/p>\n
Thompson\u2019s own home was flooded and her family lost some livestock. But she feels lucky that part of the house is still livable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a couple people who were told that their houses are gonna be bulldozed,\u201d said Thompson, whose family owns the hotel. \u201cSo they’re going to be with us until they can find housing. We’ve been trying to help them find housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the last several weeks, volunteers and residents have streamed through the hotel\u2019s lobby, where essentials are free for the taking. <\/p>\n
Piled in the corner are much-needed cleaning supplies, like buckets, rags and paper towels. There\u2019s also food and water. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe love our small little community, everyone’s tight-knit,\u201d said Martha Segura, a volunteer who\u2019s lived in Crystal City her whole life.<\/p>\n
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Lifelong Crystal City resident Martha Segura and her daughter Faith, organize donations and hand them over to residents who show up for help at the Sagebrush Hotel. The lobby has become a pop-up community hub where residents can pick up cleaning supplies and food. <\/p>\n
Like most residents, Segura told KERA had never seen anything like this happen before. As soon as she heard about residents being displaced, she knew she had to do something.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked my husband and I said \u2018Babe, where are all these people going? Like, who’s feeding them, where are they eating, where are they staying?\u2019 I mean, we as neighbors should be concerned,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Since then, she said she\u2019s been working with residents to clean and gut their houses, including moving some family\u2019s \u201cwhole entire life, in boxes, into a storage room.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Jane Smith has been a disaster relief volunteer for years. She drove from El Campo, Texas to Crystal City with a truck full of supplies \u2014 such as wheelbarrows, shovels and other donations from her community. <\/p>\n
Segura has been going door to door in the Chula Vista and Mexico Chico neighborhoods where the flooding hit the hardest, making sure residents have what they need, be it canned goods and a mop or help filling out forms for assistance. That includes a Google form being shared by Zavala County, which is working to connect residents with case managers and other resources. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s something very near and dear to my heart \u2014 that when something happens, I want to make sure that everybody gets the help that they need,\u201d Segura said.<\/p>\n
Volunteers have also come from outside the community, including Jane Smith, who\u2019s staying at the Sagebrush Hotel. <\/p>\n
Smith, who had never visited Crystal City before July\u2019s flooding, has teamed up with Segura and Thompson to help displaced residents. <\/p>\n
\u201cI called Uvalde first, and then I called Hondo, called Kerrville. And the big cities usually get help first,\u201d Smith said. Finally, she looked on Facebook, where she found a post mentioning the need in Crystal City.<\/p>\n
Since then, she\u2019s made two trips to help from her home four hours away in El Campo, Texas. On a recent Saturday morning, Smith drove around hard-hit neighborhoods to distribute goods and check in on people. <\/p>\n
At one stop, Smith met lifelong Crystal City resident Diana Bustamante, who she gave a bag of food and supplies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m overwhelmed because I’ve never been through something like this,\u201d said Bustamante, whose home filled with several feet of water. <\/p>\n
The scars left by the river are easily visible both inside and out. <\/p>\n
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Diana Bustamante said although her situation is bad, there are people with disabilities and limited resources who are struggling more. <\/p>\n
Bustamante said her husband helped remove waterlogged siding on her home’s exterior walls. It’s now covered in plywood. Inside, the house is almost empty. The family had to throw away all their appliances and furniture had to be thrown away. <\/p>\n
The loss is especially hard because Bustamante said her family saved for years, paycheck by paycheck, to buy the property. <\/p>\n
But overall, she\u2019s just thankful to be alive. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have it bad, but I don’t have it as bad as other people,\u201d Bustamante said. \u201cWe have a lot of elderly people that \u2014 they lost it all. So I\u2019m one of the blessed ones. Even though I lost a lot, I\u2019m one of the blessed ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, she lives next door with her son in his trailer home, which, amazingly, made it through the flood relatively unscathed.<\/p>\n
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Crystal City resident Diana Bustamante holds her grandson and talks to volunteer Jane Smith inside her flood damaged home. Her home in currently unlivable. <\/p>\n
Waiting on aid while navigating an uncertain future<\/p>\n
A few blocks away, volunteers have been out in the neighborhood since the early morning, working in 100 degree temperatures clearing debris.<\/p>\n
Nearby, Luisa Martinez sweeps her front porch and takes inventory of her remaining belongings. Her daughter\u2019s ivory quincea\u00f1era dress with gold trim is laid out on top of a pile of her belongings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stuff that you see here on the front porch, that’s what I have left,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cOther than that, I don’t have nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside are just a few items that survived the storm, including the family\u2019s pet axolotl, still in its tank.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to clean up and get some stuff,\u201d she said, before a company comes to help her load everything and \u201cput it there on the front to be taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Priscilla Rice<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
KERA News<\/p>\n
Crystal City resident Luisa Martinez points to show the residue marking how high the water rose in her home in the Chula Vista subdivision. She said within 10 or 15 minutes water rose from her ankles to her waist. She is now cleaning and salvaging the items she has left, including her daughter\u2019s quincea\u00f1era dress. <\/p>\n
Martinez is now dealing with the unexpected expense of renting an apartment and filling the temporary space, all while figuring out what comes next for her home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re just waiting. Hopefully, FEMA helps us or any agency the Red cross, we’re waiting. All we could do is just wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
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