Rebuilding after one flood is difficult enough. At Texas' Riverside Nature Center, staff restored the historic Lawson Store after a 2025 flood linked to backflow from the Guadalupe River, only to see a 2026 flood rip through the interior all over again.
Here's what to know
The Kerr County Lead reported that the floods were very different, according to Riverside Nature Center's executive director Becky Etzler. The 2025 event followed the more familiar pattern of Guadalupe River backflow, but the 2026 flooding came out of Town Creek, which she described as a "rampaging monster."
Although the structure remained intact, the interior work completed after the first disaster did not. "All of the new renovations from 2025 were damaged," Etzler said. "We had to virtually start again in the Lawson Store."
Riverside Nature Center began in 1994 under founder Susan Sander, a Wisconsin-born freelance photographer. Through volunteer effort and privately raised funds, the organization acquired three historic homesteads and developed them into a regional natural resource hub.
Staff naturalist China Rubiano now oversees surveys of birds, butterflies, and plants, monitors seasonal changes in native species, and cares for Shucks — the center's captive-bred corn snake.
More background
A large shipping container being used for storage after the first flood broke loose from its foundation, drifted across the parking lot, and crashed into the children's music garden, damaging several instruments.
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Yet when it came to a stop, the container was positioned to shield the center's new 20,000-gallon rainwater-harvesting tank, which The Kerr County Lead reported was miraculously left undamaged.
When floodwaters damage community spaces, they can interrupt children's programs, create public health concerns through contaminated water and debris, strain local budgets with repeated repairs, and destabilize organizations families rely on for education and safe gathering spaces.
Rebuilding once is expensive, but rebuilding twice can drain time, money, and momentum from nonprofits, workers, and communities already struggling to recover.
What's being done?
Despite repeated damage, Riverside Nature Center has kept its programs going. According to The Kerr County Lead, Sprouts preschool nature classes grew from five families to more than 30 children, and Riverside Rangers and Wildflower Bunch seed-collection walks are still happening.
The center is adding help as it rebuilds. Former Schreiner University intern Bryley Torres joined the staff as the membership and marketing coordinator to support outreach efforts. Looking further ahead, Etzler hopes to expand the visitor center, continue building out the Nature Lab, and one day open an outdoor nature school.
The center is also maintaining its education schedule. A free talk was held on Aug. 19 with Kerr County AgriLife Extension Agent Sam Womble to discuss the New World screwworm and its risks to livestock, ranching, and pets.
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