Texas flooding: Family mourns loss of man swept away in Kerrville floods
Texas Hill Country recovering from deadly flooding
Two people are dead from this week's devastating floods. The family of one of the victims is remembering their loved one.
TEXAS - Two people are dead from this week's devastating floods. Now, we're hearing from the family.
As the floodwaters slowly start to recede, the devastation left behind becomes clearer.
The backstory:
"This is our residence right behind me. It got hit pretty badly, but it's not as bad as we thought it would. Mud is all throughout the house," said Uvalde resident, Sandra Gomez.
In Uvalde County, the FM 481 bridge was completely washed away by the fast-moving floodwaters.
Texas floods: Kerr County begins cleanup
Recovery efforts are ongoing in Kerr County. The county received 20 inches of rain over the past few days, which led to lots of flooding.
Gov. Greg Abbott says the river that remains the greatest danger to the community is the Nueces River.
"Even though the rain is behind us, for a while, the rivers are going to continue to rise even if rain is not falling because of the flow of water downstream residents and leaders need to understand that the rivers will still rise and pose life-threatening danger," said Abbott.
Gov. Abbott signed a major disaster declaration for the 28 hardest hit counties.
He says the declaration opens the door to federal relief as communities begin the long process of cleanup and rebuilding.
Texas flooding: Two people killed
What they're saying:
The floods have already proven deadly.
The Uvalde County Sheriff's office says a 74-year-old man was found dead in his vehicle after being swept into floodwaters north of Uvalde Thursday morning. His name has not been released.
In Kerrville, family members are mourning the loss of Mark Steward.
His brother Stephen says Mark was home when the manufactured home he shared with his wife was swept into a creek. The wife was out of town at the time.
65-year-old John Mark Steward
The couple had just celebrated their third wedding anniversary.
"Right now, the community is lost, the church and the community itself have lost a very loving, caring man who really did care for people," said Stephen Steward, brother of the Kerrville flooding victim.
Stephen says he rushed to Kerrville hoping for a miracle when his brother went missing.
"That he was hanging on a tree someplace that they would find him, you know. That's what I was thinking, but then when I landed, and they told us that they had located his body since then, all I'd been thinking about was just a tragedy that shouldn't have happened because he was a great man," said Stephen Steward, Mark's brother.
John Mark Steward and his wife
Mark was a home caretaker and a Westlake High School alum. The school says he played football, ran track and sang with the Madrigals, graduating in 1979.
Stephen says Mark leaves behind his wife, daughter, stepdaughters, and grandchildren. Now his family says they’re focused on healing alongside the entire hill country community.
"We'll probably take our time and maybe let the town of Kerrville do some healing as well, because we know what happened last year and this year now," said Stephen.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Jenna King and previous coverage