TUCSON, Ariz. — The devastating floods that have killed over 100 people in Texas Hill Country continue to be felt in Tucson.
Linda Nielsen from Kerrville says seeing not only her hometown get destroyed, but families, is heartbreaking.
Nielsen has called Kerrville home since she was 9-years-old and is where she raised her four children.
She moved to Tucson about five years ago.
"I always tease people that I'm a Texan that lives in Arizona," Nielsen said.
She heard about the floods from her daughter and says at first, she didn't know how bad it was.
"The first thing I thought of was, we're used to some flooding in Louise Hays Park," Nielsen said. "I was there for '87. I was there when part of Kerrville flooded in 2000, 2001 and both of those were pretty tragic, but nothing like this."
She said she couldn’t put her phone down, consistently going through social media, wanting to know everything that was happening in Kerr County.
“I spent the fourth through the sixth pretty much crying the whole time and I couldn’t stop scrolling," Neilsen said.
She was worried about her friends and family, including her 25-year-old son Brandon McCulloch, who lives in Fredericksburg and works in Kerrville.
Thankfully everyone she knows is safe, but she says she feels for all the families who have been impacted.
"Especially the children. So many loss of children's lives. I have grandchildren. I can't imagine what was going through the families heads at that time," Nielsen said.
Nielsen says her youngest son knew Tivy High School Soccer Coach Reece Zunker who passed away in the floods, saying he was a great guy.
Nielsen says it’s important for her to stay in contact with her loved ones during this hard time.
“Just making sure that they’re okay mentally, is still something I do check-ins with them," Nielsen said.
McCulloch described to his mom what the Hill Country feels like.
“He said it’s very palpable. You can feel it and everything feels like it has an almost like a black shroud over everything. You can feel the difference in town," Nielsen said.
A place that holds so many special memories for her family looks different now.
“He was just saying the overall destruction and just things being flattened, and places that they used to go, where he would play soccer, you know, with friends in Louise Hays Park," Nielsen described. "And they would go to the lower part of Louise Hays where there's the little waterfall, and they would enjoy playing there and being teenagers there and just hanging out. He was like, it's gone.”
Nielsen says she spoke with her son's wife about the future and if things would ever be the same.
"How long is it gonna be before people feel safe to go there again and to be able to enjoy it and not have the fear of this could happen again or the sadness overtake them," Nielsen said.
Nielsen says she feels guilty for not being there.
“I have plans to go visit and make sure that everybody’s okay," Nielsen said.
She says it’s great to see how many people showed up, from all walks of life, to help those in need.
“Just to see the love and support for the Hill Country and all parts of Texas that have gotten hit with this, it’s amazing," Nielsen added.
Despite the destruction, Nielsen says there's hope — because this community knows how to come together.
“It’ll rebuild and it’s broken right now, but it’s strong and its got strong roots and its got a lot of support," Nielsen said.
If you would like to help those affected, the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country is accepting donations.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
