What happened

In mid-July 2026, Central and South Central Texas were hit by another catastrophic flooding event — almost exactly a year after the devastating July 4, 2025 floods that killed more than 130 people along the Guadalupe River. Torrential rain fell across the Hill Country and beyond, with some locations in Uvalde and Kerr counties measuring more than two feet of rain in a matter of days. Governor Greg Abbott warned the rainfall could exceed even last year’s historic totals, and rivers including the Guadalupe, Nueces, Pedernales, Rio Grande, San Antonio, Llano, and Frio all surged well past flood stage.

The human toll has been serious: multiple deaths, hundreds of rescues, entire neighborhoods cut off, roads and bridges washed out, and communities like Uvalde nearly isolated by rising water. Governor Abbott signed a major disaster declaration covering dozens of the hardest-hit counties, unlocking federal assistance and putting thousands of personnel, vehicles, boats, and aircraft into the response. As of the most recent updates, floodwaters have begun receding in many areas, but rivers downstream are still rising, and officials continue to warn residents near waterways to stay alert.

For communities across the Hill Country, this is painfully familiar ground. Many of the same towns — Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt, Leander, Sandy Creek, San Saba — that were still rebuilding from last year’s floods have now been hit again.

What Disaster Tech Lab has been doing

Disaster Tech Lab (DTL) has deployed to Texas to support communications, coordination, and community-led relief efforts, drawing on the same playbook — and many of the same local partnerships — built during last year’s response.

Our work on the ground focuses on the things that let everyone else do their jobs:

• Restoring connectivity — deploying Starlink and mesh Wi‑Fi networks so first responders, volunteer groups, and displaced residents can get back online where infrastructure has failed.
• Supporting coordination — helping volunteer-led initiatives and local emergency structures communicate and organize effectively, including working alongside partners like Monday.com to strengthen local coordination.
• Assessing need — sending teams into affected areas to determine where emergency communications and infrastructure support is most urgently needed.
• Delivering practical support — supplying generators, power banks, hand tools, and other field equipment to keep community hubs running.

This isn’t new territory for DTL in Texas. Our response to last year’s floods evolved from an emergency communications deployment into a year-long partnership with communities like Sandy Creek — supplying everything from Starlink systems and mesh networking gear to generators, an accommodation trailer, mobile laundry facilities, and cleanup supplies across at least seven flood-affected towns. That work directly and indirectly supported roughly 2,000 people, with broader connectivity and supply efforts reaching more than 3,000 residents and volunteers. We’re applying those same lessons and relationships now, moving faster because the networks — both technical and human — are already in place.

The current situation

The emergency phase is starting to give way to recovery in parts of the flood zone, but the picture remains mixed and dangerous in places:

• Floodwaters have receded in some hard-hit areas like Kerrville, though numerous roads and bridges remain closed and officials are urging people to stay away from damaged crossings.
• Rivers further downstream have yet to peak, meaning new areas are still at risk even as upstream communities begin cleanup.
• Debris-filled terrain, damaged infrastructure, and downed communications are still slowing both rescue operations and the shift into recovery work.
• Assessment teams are continuing to survey damage, with disaster declarations expected to expand as the full scope becomes clear.

The recovery and rebuilding work ahead

Once the water recedes, the harder, slower work begins. Based on what we saw after last year’s floods, that means:

• Debris removal and road/bridge repair, much of it in rural areas that are easy to overlook once the news cycle moves on.
• Restoring power, water, and communications infrastructure in communities where it failed outright.
• Rebuilding or repairing homes, many of which will be uninhabitable for months.
• Sustained support for local coordination, since the volunteer groups, churches, and mutual-aid networks doing the day-to-day work of recovery need reliable connectivity and tools for the long haul, not just in the first week.
• Preparedness investment, so the same communities aren’t starting from zero the next time heavy rain hits an already flood-prone region.

That last point matters. The Hill Country’s geology — steep slopes, shallow soils, exposed bedrock — means it will flood again. Some of DTL’s most valuable work after last year’s disaster was helping communities like Sandy Creek build longer-term resilience and communications capacity, not just respond to the immediate crisis.

What lies ahead: Tropical Storm Bertha

As if the Hill Country needed more rain, Tropical Storm Bertha is currently moving across the northern Gulf of Mexico, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds, and coastal flooding to the Gulf Coast from Florida through Louisiana. Bertha has been a slow-moving, disorganized storm, and forecasters expect it to weaken gradually. There are no direct alerts for Texas at this time, but any storm system tracking toward the Gulf Coast is worth watching closely for a region with already-saturated ground and swollen rivers — additional rainfall, even well short of what caused the recent flooding, could set back recovery efforts or trigger new flash flooding.

DTL is monitoring Bertha’s track alongside our ongoing Texas deployment. If the storm — or the rest of an active 2026 Atlantic hurricane season — brings further impacts to Texas or elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, our teams and equipment already in the region put us in a strong position to respond quickly.

Our continuing work

This deployment won’t end when the immediate emergency does. Just as with last year’s response, we expect our involvement in Texas to stretch from emergency connectivity through months — likely longer — of recovery and resilience-building work alongside the communities we’re already partnered with. That means continued equipment support, continued coordination help for local volunteer and faith-based groups, and continued investment in the kind of community-owned communications infrastructure that makes the next disaster easier to face.

How you can help

Disaster Tech Lab runs on donations and volunteers. Both are needed right now.

Donate: Every contribution funds continued deployments, equipment, and critical supplies for communities still recovering. Donate now →

Volunteer: If you have skills in networking, satellite communications, logistics, or field response — or simply want to help — we want to hear from you. Apply to volunteer →

Texas communities are facing this crisis for the second time in just over a year. With your support, we can keep showing up for them — through this emergency, the recovery ahead, and whatever comes next.