A nation’s independence day is special and often marked by celebration. Families and communities excitedly gather for fireworks, food, parades, and togetherness. But on July 4, 2025, the story was quite different for Texans in the United States experiencing catastrophic flooding.

Heavy rainfall began to accumulate throughout Central Texas early on July 4. This caused the Guadalupe River to rise very quickly and flood many Texan communities. Flooding devastated Kerr County, where 117 lives were lost—including many campers from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls. In San Angelo, survivors experienced 15 record-breaking inches of rain in just hours. An event like this occurring on Independence Day was unimaginable to Texans. An unthinkable flood left them destroyed by loss, trauma, and destruction.

Quickly, Concho Valley Together (CVT), San Angelo’s lead flood recovery agency, was formed. But organizing efforts to fulfill unmet flood needs can be challenging when serving more than 1,000 affected households in the community.

Five months after the flood, World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) volunteers spent time conducting an unmet needs assessment for flood survivors with CVT, capturing the holistic data of the area’s unmet disaster needs. This is when Evelyn, a DRS volunteer, met Juan, a flood survivor from the Concho Valley.

At the unmet needs assessment, Juan explained to Evelyn that with the help of family, he had made lots of progress completing repairs to his damaged home. But eventually, he completely depleted his personal finances. Juan was unable to buy any more reconstruction materials, namely insulation, while trying to get back on his feet after the flood. All the hard work he had put into overcoming this uncontrollable situation came to a halt. “It felt like such a letdown,” Juan said.

Juan’s story is not unique in the Concho Valley. In fact, the assessment discovered more than $770,000 USD of unmet recovery needs in Tom Green County for Juan and other community members. “While it will be a long recovery journey ahead, we met incredibly strong people from the Concho Valley,” Evelyn shared. “They have put so many of their resources and efforts into rebuilding their homes and lives.”

Through their time spent at our unmet needs assessment, Juan and other clients now have been added to the recovery case load of CVT. Our prayer at World Renew is that CVT can use this data to secure disaster recovery funding, assign clients to case management, and provide assistance to survivors so they can overcome this catastrophe.