00:00Woke up Friday to a bunch of text messages asking, hey, how's your mom? How's Kerrville?
00:05Is everyone safe and sound? Immediately checked in with my mom. She told me she was okay,
00:10but then she shared a photo of the river running through town, and it was unlike anything I'd ever
00:17seen. Somebody asked me what it was like growing up near the Guadalupe River. There is always an
00:23awareness of the river and what it's capable of, and the majority of the time we enjoy it for what
00:32it is, this beautiful paradise in the Texas Hill Country. But there are times when we're reminded
00:37of what it's capable of, and that's an understatement as to what happened on the 4th of July.
00:45Despite the countless of disasters I've covered, witnessing one in your own hometown is like
00:50seeing a tragedy for the first time. And it hits in a personal way that you can't shake because
01:03there's no level of separation. When I arrived here to report on this tragedy, my mission was
01:12people first. I'm always struck by the resilience of people that rise to the occasion following a
01:19tragedy. But this time, I know the people, and that changes everything. And that sense of grief
01:28and grit is being felt. And it also lets me know that as tough as this moment is,
01:38they're going to get through this. There's no other place on the planet I'd rather be than right here
01:43alongside these folks trying to wrap their heads around this and take, you know, one step forward at a
01:48time.
