{"id":67136,"date":"2025-11-27T09:03:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T09:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/67136\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T09:03:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T09:03:24","slug":"after-deadly-floods-thanksgiving-in-texas-feels-different-this-year-houston-public-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/67136\/","title":{"rendered":"After deadly floods, Thanksgiving in Texas feels different this year \u2013 Houston Public Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"Miles<\/a><\/p>\n

Dominic Anthony Walsh\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n

Miles Murayama stands in front of his home in Kerr County on Nov. 17, 2025.<\/p>\n

Outside Miles Murayama’s home in Kerr County, the sound of a circular saw sliced through the air as he awaited the end of months of repairs. <\/p>\n

Nearly five months after the flooding, you wouldn’t know the house was damaged and almost all the family’s possessions destroyed. Only one bathroom remained unfinished. <\/p>\n

Sign up for the Hello, Houston!<\/a> daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n

Even as their lives have returned to some sense of normalcy, Murayama has been pondering one overriding question.<\/p>\n

“Why? Why? Why Fourth of July, wee hours of the morning?” he said. “Why couldn\u2019t it be Fourth of July during daylight, when people would have had a chance maybe?”<\/p>\n

Click here for more inDepth features.<\/a><\/p>\n

At least 138 people died that morning, including young children. Murayama has since leaned into his faith \u2014 and a newfound sense of community, pushing aside petty disagreements.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Houston-area residents among dead, missing in catastrophic Central Texas floods<\/a><\/p>\n

“After this flooding, our neighborhood became closer. … People, you know, changed their ways,” he said. “We don\u2019t have as much animosity against each other. … So we\u2019re better, better than we was.”<\/p>\n

\"Bumble<\/a><\/p>\n

Dominic Anthony Walsh\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n

A vehicle was pushed on top of bushes by floodwaters in the Bumble Bee Hills neighborhood in Kerr County in July 2025.<\/p>\n

The rolling hills and the Guadalupe River make Kerr County a popular summer destination \u2014 but the river so beloved by residents and visitors turned into a destructive torrent<\/a> in the early morning hours of July 4.<\/p>\n

Since then, Murayama’s 30-home neighborhood along the river has been recovering \u2014 and returning to the regular rhythms of life. <\/p>\n

“I can\u2019t wait for Thanksgiving so we can invite the family over,” he said. “You know, this is a gathering place.”<\/p>\n

His contractor, Marshall James, was putting the finishing touches on the bathroom just in time for the holiday. He’s been busy. Across the street, Joe and Lilia Herrera were anxiously awaiting him as they, too, prepared to host a gathering. <\/p>\n

\"Marshall<\/a><\/p>\n

Dominic Anthony Walsh\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n

Contractor Marshall James works in the Kerr County home of Miles Murayama on Nov. 17, 2025.<\/p>\n

“I might not have everything, but we will make do with what I have,” Lilia said. “That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do, right Joe?”<\/p>\n

“Yeah, the best \u2014 we\u2019re going to have the best ever,” Joe replied. <\/p>\n

They’re grateful for a narrow escape on the morning of July 4, when 5 to 11 inches of rain fell in a few hours, raising the river more than 37 feet. <\/p>\n

Joe has Parkinson’s disease \u2014 but as the water surged into their home, he was more worried about his wife than himself. <\/p>\n

\"Lilia<\/a><\/p>\n

Dominic Anthony Walsh\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n

Joe and Lilia Herrera are surrounded by flood-damaged items at their home in Kerr County on July 6, 2025, two days after a devasting flood.<\/p>\n

“I said, \u2018Go to the attic.’ I said, \u2018You worry about saving yourself,” Joe recalled. <\/p>\n

“He said, \u2018Save yourself. Don\u2019t save me,'” Lilia added, “and that\u2019s when we heard Ram.” <\/p>\n

Ram is their neighbor, Ramiro Gonzalez. <\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a miracle that they got out of the house,” Gonzalez said. <\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/a><\/p>\n

Dominic Anthony Walsh\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n

Joe Herrera and Ramiro Gonzalez share an embrace in their Kerr County neighborhood on Nov. 17, 2025.<\/p>\n

Wading through floodwaters, he tied a strap around Joe and pulled him up to safety. <\/p>\n

This Thanksgiving, Gonzalez will still be helping his neighbors. <\/p>\n

“I\u2019ll be at the Salvation Army, delivering food,” he said, “and then I\u2019ll come over to Joe’s afterwards.”<\/p>\n

“Goodbye and good night”<\/p>\n

It’s not a celebratory Thanksgiving for everyone. <\/p>\n

Across the state, in Houston, Matthew Childress will always remember June 27 \u2014 the day his daughter, Chloe, left for what was supposed to be a month-long stint as a counselor at Camp Mystic<\/a>. <\/p>\n

“She gave me a big hug and kiss. I told her, \u201817 kisses,’ which is our way of saying goodbye and good night to one another for her entire life,” Childress said. “And she said, \u2018Don\u2019t worry about it, Dad. I\u2019ll see you soon.’ “<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/a><\/p>\n

Dominic Anthony Walsh\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n

Matthew Childress lost his 18-year-old daughter, Chloe Childress, in the July 4 flooding in Kerr County.<\/p>\n

Chloe, along with another counselor and 25 campers, was swept away from the century-old Christian summer camp for girls. <\/p>\n

Eight days after their goodbye, Childress was identifying his daughter’s body at a mortuary in Kerrville.<\/p>\n

“I went back in and gave her 17 kisses before we said goodbye,” he said, “because that\u2019s how we said goodbye, good night, every night.”<\/p>\n

When he and his wife returned home, they found a scripture reference in her bathroom \u2014 Isaiah 43:2. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.”<\/p>\n

Chloe was about a month from starting school at the University of Texas at Austin. Instead, on what was supposed to be move-in day, Childress sat in meetings with state officials, advocating for what would become a new state law<\/a> strengthening safety regulations at camps in Texas.<\/p>\n

\"Families<\/a><\/p>\n

Patricia Lim | KUT News<\/p>\n

Families impacted by the July 4 floods in tears during a bill signing at the Governor\u2019s Mansion on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.<\/p>\n

The families watched from the galleries of the Texas Legislature as the rules that could have saved their daughters made their way to the governor’s desk. <\/p>\n

“During the Senate bill passing, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick made additional comments about the two counselors that brought me to tears,” Childress recalled. <\/p>\n

RELATED: Body of Camp Mystic counselor found: Katherine Ferruzzo of Houston remembered for dedication to children<\/a><\/p>\n

“They were old enough and big enough they could have saved themselves and they \u2014 they stayed. They stayed,” Patrick said on Aug. 21. “So to those two counselors \u2014 I don\u2019t know that we have an award for courage in Texas, but if we don\u2019t, we need to have one. Because those two 18-year-olds did what scripture says \u2014 you give your life to try to save another.”<\/p>\n

“During those two sessions, I was pretty stoic, pretty stone-faced, and what he said brought me to roaring tears,” Childress said. <\/p>\n

Childress, his wife and their son are back at work and in school. But the grief is impossible to escape. <\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Minasi \/ KUT News<\/p>\n

A Hill Country Strong sign is pictured among flowers, photos, notes, and toys for victims of the July Fourth flooding at the memorial wall on Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas.<\/p>\n

“You find yourself not thinking about it, which is great, and you\u2019re focused on positive things and productive things,” he said, “but there\u2019s always this sort of dark cloud, sort of waiting for you \u2014 that reminder that, oh yes, this happened, and this is something that we\u2019re stuck with that we can\u2019t escape.”<\/p>\n

Chloe’s birthday was in October, and the family is now facing their first holiday season without her. <\/p>\n

This Thanksgiving, he said, they’re creating new traditions \u2014 leaving town instead of staying in with family. <\/p>\n

“We haven\u2019t quite figured out what we\u2019re going to do for Christmas, but it may be the same thing as well,” he said, “because going back to our usual traditions here in Houston, here at our house with our family, is maybe too hard of a burden to take on.”<\/p>\n

When they get back, reminders of the grief will be waiting \u2014 the state investigation of the floods; the multiple lawsuits against Camp Mystic<\/a>; and Chloe’s bedroom, the door to which they keep open, on purpose, to hold onto the feeling and memory of their only daughter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dominic Anthony Walsh\/Houston Public Media Miles Murayama stands in front of his home in Kerr County on Nov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2330,34610,3576,34611,34612,56,58,57,13618,66,223,27,30831],"class_list":["post-67136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-camp-mystic","tag-central-texas-floods","tag-flooding","tag-flooding-in-kerr-county","tag-guadalupe-river-flood","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-indepth","tag-local","tag-news","tag-texas","tag-thanksgiving-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67136","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=67136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}