Dear friends,

Knowing you have been watching all of the news reports about the Texas Hill Country flood, we just wanted to update you, our friends, as to our situation.  Many have reached out, so perhaps this will provide updates to those we haven’t had a chance to respond to yet. Things have been a bit “messed up” for a while now here in our beautiful Hill Country haven.  But there are ways that you can help.

We were/are safe and had power through it all.  No Internet from Friday until Monday pm and cellular was intermittent, so communication with the outside world was difficult.  Sorry but, needless to say, this Blog has been far from our minds.

We have not personally suffered anything more than inconvenience.  We thank God for our blessing.

We are located smack dab in the middle of the crisis, but we are on high ground.  The river is about 1/4 mile from us as the crow flies.  We can see it below from our deck in the winter when the leaves have fallen.  We are at the junction of the Guadalupe and Johnson Creek (approximately) just outside Ingram city limits towards Hunt.  Camp Mystic is 8 miles upriver from us and the city center of Kerrville is 7 miles downriver. 

The death toll from the flooding in Central Texas has reached 119 as of Thursday morning (96 of whom are in Kerr County and include 60 adults and 36 children), with at least 179 people still missing.

Although Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called a special legislative session to study ways to improve warning systems and emergency response efforts in flood-prone areas, as our Central Texas-raised writers have already noted, in those isolated areas with no cell service, rocky canyons and sudden torrential rains, about the only way to (largely) negate the risk of being swept away by a flash flood is to never camp anywhere below the record-highest flooding crest level. The Guadalupe River rose 25 feet in 45 minutes, and even with an early warning, that kind of rapid flooding is not easy to escape.  Other suggestions include building an additional series of dams along the river to slow the pace of the water in flash floods.  These things are out of our area of expertise and we’ll leave it to those who know how, all the time praying for God’s guidance and for them to make the wisest of decisions.

Religious faith is proving invaluable to both the victims and rescuers. Churches and faith-based organizations are playing a major role in the search and rescue effort and in helping survivors with both material and spiritual needs. Here’s more on how Billy Graham’s Rapid Response Team is helping…

https://www.foxnews.com/us/faith-brings-light-devastated-texas-town-after-deadly-flooding-disaster

And if you’d like to help, the fastest and most effective way is with a donation to Samaritan’s Purse. You can give and also read more about their flood relief efforts at this link…

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/deadly-flooding-hits-central-texas/ 

Please beware of “GoFundMe” and other accounts that claim to be for victims of the flood.  The scammers are very active right now.  Respond only to accounts for those who you know personally and who are set up by people you know or can verify.

Things have forever changed in our quiet little hill country haven.  We greatly appreciate ALL your prayers and support.

That being said, this community is strong in faith and is bonding together to form a cohesive force to deal with the tragedy. We are thankful for the good things:

•The outpouring of care, gifts, personal sacrifice of time, energy and emotion to our area

•There were 850+ campers.  By far the majority of them were rescued

•Steadfast commitment of federal, state, and local government agencies

•Dedication from first responders, military, private rescue and recovery groups, trained private citizens

•The world community at large that has come to aid our community

•A community that has come together STRONG and united to help each other whether with minor needs due to power outages or with major needs due to devastating personal loss of life, home, and/or business

•Coming together to lift each other through this gives each of us fuel to make it through and the love and care from people all over the world, reaching out to our communities, is uplifting

•Hearing from dear friends, has brought joy in the midst of the chaos and grief.  THANKS to the many who have reached out, remembering us and this area.

Please include in your prayers:

•Those grieving the loss of family and/or friends

•Those bearing heavy hearts as they tried and failed to save others

•Those who must execute the recovery and rebuild process. What they are experiencing is more than discomfort, filth, and danger.  Their hearts and eyes are experiencing the indescribable.

•Those who have stopped everything to support the search/cleanup teams.  They are sacrificing too.

•Those who are counseling the grieving and the responders who must encounter unbelievable discoveries.

Surely there are additional things to be thankful for and things to remember in prayer, but these are a great place to start

Glad you are there for us!

From our hearts to yours,

Ray and Mary Jo Lincoln