Latest news with #TivyHighSchool
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘One of a kind': Kerrville ISD honors soccer coach, wife killed in flood
KERR COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Hundreds packed Antler Stadium in Kerrville Wednesday to honor Tivy High School soccer coach Reece Zunker and his wife Paula, who were killed as catastrophic floodwaters devastated Kerr County. 'He fit right in, and he has a lot of people here that are really going to miss him,' said Chris Russ, another coach at Tivy. In a social media post, the district said, 'Coach Reece Zunker was not just a soccer coach, he was a mentor, teacher and role model for our Kerrville kids.' Wednesday night's service opened with a Winnie the Pooh quote about having a tough day and not necessarily wanting to talk about it. Young Life Director Josh Smithson led the event. People sang. People prayed. People cried. 'Everyone who was around him enjoyed being around him,' Russ said. 'He was a great father, a great husband.' The district said Zunker's 'passion for his players, students, coworkers, community and his family will never be forgotten.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Japan Today
2 days ago
- Climate
- Japan Today
Thousands of first responders search for Texas survivors against long odds
FILE PHOTO: People take part in the search and rescue operation looking for missing people by the Guadalupe River, in Hunt, Texas, U.S. July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo By Jane Ross Thousands of first responders were still combing through piles of mud-covered debris in Texas Hill Country on Thursday, hoping against long odds to find survivors six days after flash floods swept through the region, killing at least 120. A dozen states have dispatched search teams to Kerr County, where the vast majority of the victims perished when torrential rains sent a wall of water raging down the Guadalupe River in the predawn hours of July 4. At least 96 people, including 36 children, died in Kerr County, officials said at a briefing on Thursday morning. Another 161 people remain unaccounted for. The last person found alive was on Friday, according to authorities. The dead included 27 campers and staff members from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the river. Five girls and one counselor from the camp remain missing, officials said. Kerr County sits at the heart of what is known as "flash flood alley" in central Texas, a region that has seen some of the country's deadliest floods. More than a foot of rain fell in less than an hour early on July 4. Flood gauges showed the river's height rose from about a foot to 34 feet (10.4 meters) in a matter of hours, cascading over its banks and sweeping away trees and structures in its path. Hundreds of community members gathered at a worship service at Tivy High School in Kerrville on Wednesday to remember the victims. Students and adults prayed and sang, with some hugging and holding back their tears during the memorial at the school's football stadium. The school's soccer coach, Reece Zunker, and his wife, Paula, a former teacher there, were among the victims. Their two children were missing as of Sunday, according to the school district. "Zunker was a really tough guy," said art teacher Marti Garcia, who attended Wednesday's event. "I just had faith that he was going to pull it out." Authorities in Kerr County have faced questions about whether more could have been done in the early hours of July 4 to alert residents about the rising floodwaters and get some of them to higher ground. The county declined to install an early-warning system years ago after failing to secure state grant money to cover the cost. Officials have vowed to review the events to determine what may have gone wrong, but have emphasized that their current focus is on rescue and recovery. The state legislature will convene in a special session later this month to investigate the flooding and provide disaster relief funding. Meanwhile, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told reporters on Thursday that after talks with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, federal authorities had pledged $15 million in disaster relief for the mountain village of Ruidoso, where flash flooding on Tuesday killed three people, including two children, and damaged hundreds of homes. Some $12 million of the federal disaster funding is money previously pledged, but never paid, to build levees to protect the community from flash floods after wildfires last year, Lujan Grisham said. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Climate
- Los Angeles Times
Hundreds gather at high school stadium to honor the many lost to deadly Texas floods
KERRVILLE, Texas — Hundreds prayed, wept and held one another at a Texas prayer service for the 120 people who died in catastrophic flash floods and the many more reported missing. While search crews and volunteers pushed ahead with recovering those unaccounted for, communities in the devastated Hill Country region are just beginning to grieve those lost over the July Fourth holiday. Mourners gathered Wednesday night at Tivy High School's stadium, where they had celebrated victories and suffered losses on the field, said Ricky Pruitt, of the Kerrville Church of Christ. 'Tonight is very different than all of those nights,' he said. Among those who died was the school's soccer coach. Many wore blue shirts with the school's slogan, 'Tivy Fight Never Die,' and green ribbons for Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died. Officials said five campers and one counselor have still not been found. More than 170 people are believed to be missing across central Texas, most in Kerr County, where nearly 100 victims have been recovered. Authorities say they have carefully gone over the list of those unaccounted for but those numbers are often tough to pin down in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Parents of children who were at the many summer camps in Hill Country have credited the teenage counselors with ushering campers to safety and helping keeping them calm during the chaos. The catastrophe is the deadliest inland flooding in the U.S. since 1976, when Colorado's Big Thompson Canyon flooded, killing 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called on state lawmakers to approve funding for new warning systems and emergency communications in flood prone areas when the Legislature meets later this month. Abbott also asked for financial relief for the response and recovery efforts. 'We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future,' he said in a statement Wednesday. Public officials in the area have come under repeated criticism amid questions about the timeline of what happened and why widespread warnings were not sounded and more preparations were not made. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha has said those questions will be answered after the victims are recovered. Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a flood warning system, but concerns about costs and noise led to missed opportunities to put up sirens. President Donald Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover and is planning to visit the state Friday. Polls taken before the floods show Americans largely believe the federal government should play a major role in preparing for and responding to natural disasters. Catastrophic flooding is a growing worry. On Tuesday, a deluge in New Mexico triggered flash floods that killed three people. After the ceremony in Kerrville on Wednesday, children and families mingled on the field, and some students formed prayer circles. Counselors and therapists were also on hand. Andrew Brown, who wanted to pay tribute to the school's soccer coach, said he believes a warning system with sirens would be helpful. 'I'm sure there are things that could have been different, and I'm sure there will be going forward,' he said. David Garza drove more than an hour to support loved ones affected by the floods. 'I'm from here, and I was here in the '78 flood and the '87 flood,' Garza said. 'I just wanted to be a part of this.' Lathan, Murphy, and Golden write for the Associated Press. AP writers John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Jim Vertuno in Austin, and John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., contributed to this report.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Climate
- Straits Times
Thousands of first responders search for Texas survivors against long odds
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: People take part in the search and rescue operation looking for missing people by the Guadalupe River, in Hunt, Texas, U.S. July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo KERRVILLE, Texas - Thousands of first responders were still combing through piles of mud-covered debris in Texas Hill Country on Thursday, hoping against long odds to find survivors six days after flash floods swept through the region, killing at least 120. A dozen states have dispatched search teams to Kerr County, where the vast majority of the victims perished when torrential rains sent a wall of water raging down the Guadalupe River in the predawn hours of July 4. At least 96 people, including 36 children, died in Kerr County, officials said at a briefing on Thursday morning. Another 161 people remain unaccounted for. The last person found alive was on Friday, according to authorities. The dead included 27 campers and staff members from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the river. Five girls and one counselor from the camp remain missing, officials said. Kerr County sits at the heart of what is known as "flash flood alley" in central Texas, a region that has seen some of the country's deadliest floods. More than a foot of rain fell in less than an hour early on July 4. Flood gauges showed the river's height rose from about a foot to 34 feet (10.4 meters) in a matter of hours, cascading over its banks and sweeping away trees and structures in its path. Hundreds of community members gathered at a worship service at Tivy High School in Kerrville on Wednesday to remember the victims. Students and adults prayed and sang, with some hugging and holding back their tears during the memorial at the school's football stadium. The school's soccer coach, Reece Zunker, and his wife, Paula, a former teacher there, were among the victims. Their two children were missing as of Sunday, according to the school district. "Zunker was a really tough guy," said art teacher Marti Garcia, who attended Wednesday's event. "I just had faith that he was going to pull it out." Authorities in Kerr County have faced questions about whether more could have been done in the early hours of July 4 to alert residents about the rising floodwaters and get some of them to higher ground. The county declined to install an early-warning system years ago after failing to secure state grant money to cover the cost. Officials have vowed to review the events to determine what may have gone wrong, but have emphasized that their current focus is on rescue and recovery. The state legislature will convene in a special session later this month to investigate the flooding and provide disaster relief funding. Meanwhile, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told reporters on Thursday that after talks with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, federal authorities had pledged $15 million in disaster relief for the mountain village of Ruidoso, where flash flooding on Tuesday killed three people, including two children, and damaged hundreds of homes. Some $12 million of the federal disaster funding is money previously pledged, but never paid, to build levees to protect the community from flash floods after wildfires last year, Lujan Grisham said. REUTERS
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Climate
- Associated Press
Photos of the Texas vigil honoring flood victims and the many still missing
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Several hundred people gathered at Tivy High School's stadium in Kerr County, Texas, to mourn the victims of the catastrophic flash floods that hit the region and to honor the many still missing. The vigil Wednesday included tributes to Camp Mystic, where 27 campers and counselors died. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
