Legendary ‘Hunt Store’ Music Venue Severely Damaged in Texas Flooding
The flooding throughout the Hill Country and Central Texas during the 4th of July Holiday has caused catastrophic damage, cost at least 43 lives in the flood on the Guadalupe River flood with those numbers expected to go up dramatically, along with scores currently unaccounted for, including 27 young girls at Camp Mystic on the river’s shore.
Though most of the media coverage has been centered around the Kerrville area, areas as far north as Georgetown, Texas and Burnet County north of Austin have also experienced damaging and deadly flooding, with at least three people killed in the flood in Burnett County and northwest Travis County.
Central Texas and the Hill Country are the heart of the music scene in Texas, housing many musicians, and many legendary venues. One such venue is the Hunt Store in Hunt, Texas. First opened in 1946, it was the community grocery store, music venue, bar, restaurant, and even housed a bank for many years. It’s been owned by John Dunn since 2013.
Along with the historic dance halls in Texas, in many rural central Texas communities, these “stores” would also be the multi-functional gathering place for communities. The Hunt Store was one of the most well-known and vibrant of the Texas community stores.
“It’s gone,” a local Hunt resident told News 4 out of San Antonio. “The (original) building is still here as you can see. But it’s just destroyed.” One side of the venue’s limestone walls and porch posts still remain. But the front walls were completely blown out, and the back portion that housed the stage and the dance floor suffering major damage. The Hunt Post Office that was nearby no longer exists.
“The store was more than just a store where you could go to buy staples and a beer or a hamburger, or whatever. It was a social meeting point.”
The Hunt Store features both local artists as well as artists touring through the region. Dallas Moore and Pauline Reese had recently played the legendary stage. “I literally just played on the Hunt Store Stage on Wednesday Night,” Dallas Moore says. “The damage and destruction we are seeing today is just unimaginable.”
“We’re absolutely devastated,” co-owner Haley told 92.3 The Ranch. “We’re going to be updating our website, and meeting with the preservation society to see what we can do … we’re going to try and save the historical part.”
Gruene Hall in nearby New Braunfels officially cancelled tonight’s performance by Josh Weathers as it continues to rain in central Texas due to the remnants of a tropical storm, and other events have been cancelled as well.
Multiple benefits and fundraisers are being planned throughout the region to help with cleanup and rebuilding efforts. Saving Country Music will have more information on these efforts as they come together.
July 6, 2025 @ 5:01 am
Thanks for this article. The property damage to important music venues in Texas caused by the flooding is disturbing; the loss of life caused by the flooding is tragic. I hope we can avoid politicizing the issue of who deserves the blame for the lack of notice and instead focus on how to prepare for and prevent future losses.
July 6, 2025 @ 7:05 am
People are going to blame someone; it’s the American way. But in general, people either don’t trust the weather reports anymore and discount them as a some sort of conspiracy, are numb to the endless weather warnings/ alerts issued, or don’t want the government telling them what to do.
I see it all the time here in SW PA. A derecho passed through here at the end of April with 80-90 mph winds. Most of the region was without power for 7-10 days. Severe storms warnings were issued for 3 days leading up to the event. I knew to be done with work at 3 pm. Yet very few people heeded the warnings and you had people who went grocery shopping earlier in the day and lost $200 worth perishables and generators without gas.
July 7, 2025 @ 1:58 am
Massive funding cuts in science and authorities, laid off specialists at the NOAA climate service and the NWS weather agency. Decimated data bases due to the targeted reduction of weather balloons. Budget cuts to key positions at National Weather Service offices in San Antonio and San Angelo. As a result of these cuts, there are unfilled positions in responsible positions in the areas of hydrology, meteorology, weather forecasting and research. Deny climate change and its consequences.
No, you really can’t blame anyone for this.
July 7, 2025 @ 6:05 am
Certainly has nothing to do with cloud seeding in certain areas..
July 7, 2025 @ 6:37 am
There’s a difference between determining reasons for an event and politicizing blame. The focus should be on what we can do in the future to prevent the next tragedy— what positions at NOAA and NWS are needed and where their employees should be based, how many weather balloons should be deployed where and when, which databases should be maintained, how best to communicate warnings and persuade people to act on them, etc.
July 7, 2025 @ 7:32 am
The region flooded – the campsite in particular – is known as “Flood Valley.” This is the 2nd mass causality event in 40 years. It flooded last year too. This region is situated on impenetrable limestone and granite bedrock.
I don’t need more weather balloons or more NOAA employees to tell me it’s a dangerous site with a high probability to flooding.
A Texas weather man was on CNN yesterday morning and said the alerts went out Thursday night. He believes people are numb to the alerts because they send out too many. His answer was less alerts so when there is a major event people will heed the warnings.
July 7, 2025 @ 11:16 am
That’s how I am with tornado warnings in Middle TN. For a few weeks there were a multitude of alerts without a touchdown having been confirmed, and many people including myself just stopped paying attention.
July 7, 2025 @ 7:38 am
As has been widely reported by many reputable sources, alerts went out, watches and warnings were given, and staffing/funding cuts at neither the local, state, or national level affected the alerting of residents to the danger of the flooding. Have their been staffing cuts? Yes. Did they affect this particular situation? No.
The idea that as soon as there is a natural disaster like this, our natural inclination is to blame the people we didn’t vote for in political positions illustrates the emotional and hubristic nature of politics today where otherwise rational and intelligent people get swept up in seething anger and come to very irrational conclusions.
July is one of the driest portions of the year in Central Texas. The ground was already saturated from unusual amounts of rain. Then nearly a entire year’s worth of rain fell in a matter of hours. This area of Texas is know as “flood alley” (similar to tornado alley) due to the amount of tributaries flowing through the area, and the shallowness of the topsoil due to the limestone that constitutes the Hill Country. Then all this happened at 4 in the morning when people were sleeping. It happened in the summer when seasonal summer camps were in session. Warnings were given. Alerts went out on phones. But people were sleeping, and more people were along the river than during any other time of year.
Could lives have been saved if different protocols were in place, and more people were physically warned in-person? Absolutely. Should we use this tragedy to learn how better to prepare ourselves for this situation. Of course we should. Would the outcome have been different if it was a different figurehead in the White House? Of course not, any different than Biden was somehow responsible for the deaths and destruction in North Carolina last year.
I was surprised to hear Trump say that the current system was managed by Biden over the last four years, but he wouldn’t blame Biden. It was a freak weather anomaly that resulted in a tragedy. The politicization of it is beyond irresponsible by any and all parties, just as it is for most any natural disasters.
July 7, 2025 @ 10:33 am
There are always lessons to be learned for the future. We now know that many of the text warnings that went out were missed because they were sent in the middle of the night. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider a plan rejected in 2015 by Kerr County to install river gauges which trigger sirens when water levels reach a certain point. Maybe not. But we need to be able to talk about safety concerns and proposals outside of the context of imposing blame for political advantage.
July 7, 2025 @ 11:10 am
When I was growing up in North Texas in Tornado Alley, whenever there was a tornado on the ground, they would sound the air raid sirens. They were loud, ominous, would wake you from a dead sleep, and save lives. I think a siren system would be a good idea. as hoptowntiger said in a post, we get so many damn Amber Alerts and push notifications on our phones, especially stuff that doesn’t even pertain to us, it starts to blend into the background, and you don’t take them seriously.
We also have to understand that freak natural disasters happen. We can’t make the world out of Nerf padding where nobody ever gets hurt. But we can make smart steps to mitigate the loss of life as much as possible.
July 7, 2025 @ 3:27 pm
Are warning apps the only thing you have in the USA? In Germany, special forces fly with helicopters during floods and warn people with powerful loudspeakers or rescue them directly from the air. This is an interaction of various authorities: SEK – comparable to the National Guard, federal police and local police, technical relief agency (disaster protection). These special forces are always ready for immediate action and are excellently equipped. Does this also exist in the USA and was it used in Texas?
And we have internationally networked early warning systems. Weather stations from Germany, France, Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic work together. This means they have a larger database and can calculate more precise models and initiate timely protective measures. This also includes preventive forced evacuations to protect and save lives. Does this cooperation also exist between the USA and Mexico or Caribbean countries?
In Central Europe there is an internationally coordinated network of catch basins and reservoirs that collect large amounts of precipitation from endangered rivers and prevent or stop flooding. Does this exist in the USA too?
In Europe and especially in China, the economic course is increasingly being set towards renewable energies and the use of fossil energies such as petroleum is being pushed back. This development is based on the fact that scientific findings about climate change and the resulting increasing weather catastrophes are taken seriously in politics. The political framework and economic development will be modernized accordingly. Is this also the case in the USA or is it primarily the climate-damaging oil industry that is being supported?
To make all of these things work, the government collects taxes. And it is also clear to most people here that this is exactly why the state raises taxes and this is exactly why taxes are important.
July 7, 2025 @ 4:23 pm
Hey Akade,
With all due respect, this comment is pretty tone deaf. Of course there are dams, reservoirs, and public works projects in place to attempt to mitigate flooding. That is the only reason the entire City of Austin didn’t get wiped off the map in this event. Of course the National Guard and Coast Guard, along with numerous other local agencies swelled manpower and resources to the area during the flooding, including scores of helicopters. But you can’t fly a helicopter through a massive thunderstorm. Scores of warnings went out, and watches were posted many hours ahead of time. But it was in the middle of the night, so many did not heed them. A siren system would have been about the only thing to prevent what happened, and even then, the issue was so catastrophic, people still would have died.
Texas is the #1 state in the United States for renewable energy thanks to the massive amount of wind farms in the northern part of the state. That’s not going to prevent a tragedy like this. Climate is global. Congratulations on China “setting the course” to renewables after pumping more industrial pollution in the atmosphere than the rest of the civilized world in the last ten years.
And yes, we all know how taxes work.
Sometimes mother nature reminds us who’s actually in charge. That’s what happened over the last few days in Texas. It happens in other states and countries as well, all the time.
July 6, 2025 @ 5:34 am
I saw a video of the flash flood.
Water moves swiftly. Always take those warnings seriously.
July 6, 2025 @ 7:22 am
Thank you, trigger for this article and bringing an awareness to those hurting out there in Texas. I was in Kerrville last fall on the 9.33 The Ranch . It’s a gorgeous town and full of amazing people . Please keep us in the loop about these benefit concerts. I’ll be out that way soon and would love to help out some way for my Texas people.
July 6, 2025 @ 8:18 am
I had a great trip to the Hill Country last year. Great country. Great people. Absolutely tragic. My heart goes out to those that have suffered such unbelievable loss.
July 6, 2025 @ 9:10 am
Looks like Crider’s, which is a couple of miles up river from the Hunt Store and has a rodeo followed by live music every Saturday night in the summer, was also severely damaged. Really cool place: outdoor dance floor under a sprawling live oak that fills up for the Cotton Eyed Joe; people of all ages, including many skilled in the two step; great bands; fried catfish; and lots of Lonestar, Pearl, and Dr Pepper.
July 6, 2025 @ 5:30 pm
Jezzy’ peasy Trig- this article in a couple months I would consider legit.. RN, just seems tone deaf af. Amazing land mark lost – I get it.. just- too early.
July 6, 2025 @ 5:49 pm
Not sure what this comment is getting at. I live in Central Texas. This is my community. If you looked out the window of SCM headquarters at the moment, you’d see my neighborhood is halfway flooded after yet another deluge. Luckily we have no damage here, but folks in my county have died. I’m a music jounrnalist, so I am going to focus on the music aspect of this developing story, and leave the rest to the news outlets who are tooled to covering the other aspects of it, and are doing a great job.
July 6, 2025 @ 5:51 pm
Also, I’ve had folks in Hunt reach out and thank me for covering this story.
July 6, 2025 @ 6:28 pm
Man- always on the defense. Can you not just say, “yeah I should had hung on to this article for a minute”. And of course the amazing folks at Hunt thanked you, it is very important to them… others? Not rn, not yet….
And…. Lemme help, the comment was simply “Getting at” – too early… Nothing else. God be with the families I beg..
July 7, 2025 @ 7:24 am
BD,
I appreciate the concern that this article could have come across to someone as being callus for focusing on property damage as opposed to the loss of life. That was the reason I was so careful compositing this article, making sure to first and foremost talk about the loss of life, and acknowledge the greater gravity of the issue. Other outlets have also been reporting on the damage to The Hunt Store as part of their greater coverage of the flood.
The reason I’m on the defense is because you attacked, and basically questioned my character for publishing this story. I’m not going to admit I did something wrong because I don’t think I did, and in the 24 hours after publishing this story, nobody else brought this up as an issue. In fact, parties directly involved thanked me for my reporting.
I’m not sure how not being timely with this story would have somehow helped it. But, I appreciate the feedback.
July 7, 2025 @ 8:54 am
For what it’s worth- as someone who was directly in the path of Helene. We felt it was appropriate to report on both the loss of life and landmarks at the same time. I checked in on friends and family first- sure. But I was also eager to know about the state of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the old country store, various churches, etc. These landmarks shape us as humans and make us who we are. We ached over the loss of life AND the local football field. It all added to the devastation and the hurt. Very similar to when the Gatlinburg fires happened. We talked about them at the same time.
Trigger- prayers to you and your community as you go through this. Appalachia has been there and we hurt with you.
July 12, 2025 @ 3:21 pm
Sirens should be reinstated all over the country. It was needed in Maui too. Three floods in three days yeah that’s climate change. This is no time to roll back environmental restrictions and drill for more oil nor build nuclear facilities to support AI.