Texas floods: how to talk to people on the worst day of their lives

Summary

Texas Floods: How to Talk to People on the Worst Day of Their Lives

Episode Overview

In the July 26, 2025 episode of NPR's Consider This, host Scott Detrow delves into the harrowing experiences of two NPR reporters, Sergio Martinez Beltran and Kat Lonsdorf, as they covered the catastrophic floods that devastated the Texas hill country. This detailed summary captures their on-the-ground reporting, the emotional challenges they faced, and the profound stories of resilience and community support that emerged from the disaster.

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Shift in Reporting Focus

Breaking News Maneuvers

Two weeks prior to the episode’s release, Sergio Martinez Beltran, an NPR immigration correspondent based in Austin, found himself abruptly redirected from his assignment in Detroit to cover the unexpected flooding in Texas. Detrow narrates this sudden shift:

"He was reporting a totally different story, but as often happens with breaking news, reporters switched gears."
— Scott Detrow [00:00]

Sergio recounts the logistics of his rapid transition:

"Landed in Austin, left my personal car in the airport parking lot, rented a car and just like went straight to Kerrville."
— Sergio Martinez Beltran [00:23]

Despite renting an SUV, Sergio faced significant delays reaching Kerr County, the disaster's epicenter, due to numerous road closures and inadequate GPS data.

"The GPS was not aware of those road closures. So at times it was sending me through areas that as soon as I got to those roads, I had to stop and slam on my brakes because there was water and I could not see it."
— Sergio Martinez Beltran [00:43]

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Initial Impressions and Site Visits

First-Hand Observations

Upon arrival, Sergio's initial destination was an elementary school repurposed as a reunification center for flood victims and their families.

"Right away I knew this was pretty bad because there were hundreds of people there and it was 9pm and hundreds of people were out there waiting for their loved ones."
— Sergio Martinez Beltran [01:02]

Kat Lonsdorf joined the reporting efforts four days post-flood, providing a broader perspective on the unfolding recovery operations.

"There's more clarity of what the destruction is. There's more clarity of the numbers of people lost, of the people still missing. And quite frankly, a lot of times around then is when it starts turning into a recovery operation."
— Kat Lonsdorf [01:24]

Kat describes her surreal experience driving near the river:

"I was driving in off the highway, which is about two miles away from the river. And as I'm driving in, everything looks normal. And it's not until you get a block, two blocks, three blocks from the river, where it just feels like you flip into the upside down."
— Kat Lonsdorf [01:45]

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Approaches to Empathetic Reporting

Respectful Engagement with Trauma

Recognizing the sensitivity required in disaster reporting, both Sergio and Kat emphasized the importance of empathy and respect when interacting with those affected.

Kat’s Approach

Kat highlights her strategy to create a safe space for interviewees:

"I am always trying to keep a mind front of mind that you are approaching people on what is probably one of the worst, if not the worst day of their life... if they have really any hesitation whatsoever about talking to me in that moment of what they're experiencing, I don't push it."
— Kat Lonsdorf [03:50]

She underscores the sanctity of allowing individuals to share their grief without coercion, fostering trust and genuine communication.

Sergio’s Approach

Sergio focuses on uncovering untold stories and ensuring that his interviews provide depth and control to the subjects.

"For me, it was to give our audiences a sense of who was impacted by this... driving an hour and a half through back roads... to talk to people because those stories had not been told, people had not been approached by reporters there yet."
— Sergio Martinez Beltran [04:51]

He emphasizes the importance of allowing interviewees to guide the conversation, ensuring they remain in control of their narratives:

"I always tell them, if you want this to end, we stop the interview and we move on."
— Sergio Martinez Beltran [04:51]

---

Emotional Resilience and Self-Care

Managing the Emotional Toll

Covering natural disasters poses significant emotional challenges. Both reporters share their strategies for coping with the intense experiences they encountered.

Kat’s Coping Mechanisms

Kat stresses the necessity of self-care and mutual support among colleagues:

"Really taking the time, once you can, to sit and think about it... talking to your other colleagues because they're also seeing a lot of the same things that you are."
— Kat Lonsdorf [06:39]

She highlights the importance of acknowledging shared experiences to mitigate feelings of overwhelm.

Sergio’s Coping Mechanisms

For Sergio, maintaining connections with the affected community beyond active reporting helps provide a sense of closure:

"I tend to follow up with folks even when I'm no longer on the assignment... it helps me to stay in touch with people... that's super important."
— Sergio Martinez Beltran [07:06]

He believes that continued engagement honors the trust placed in him by the interviewees and supports their ongoing recovery.

---

Memorable Stories Amidst Tragedy

Heartwarming Moments in Despair

Despite the devastation, moments of joy and human kindness stood out to both reporters.

Kat’s Story of Reuniting a Lost Pet

Kat shares a poignant story that underscores the deep emotional ties people have with their pets:

"I witnessed the moment where they were reunited and this moment of just pure joy in such a terrible setting."
— Kat Lonsdorf [08:08]

The narrative follows a woman’s five-hour overnight journey from Dallas to help find missing pets, culminating in the heartfelt reunion with a cat named Rambo.

Sergio’s Observation of Community Solidarity

Sergio reflects on the overwhelming community response to the flooding:

"Seeing that was very, very moving... churches were bringing more supplies... driving trucks to bring supplies from different parts of the state."
— Sergio Martinez Beltran [09:10]

He notes the collaborative efforts between NPR’s on-ground reporters and behind-the-scenes teams, highlighting the strength and unity of the community in the face of disaster.

---

Conclusion

The episode of Consider This offers a profound exploration of disaster journalism, emphasizing the delicate balance between reporting facts and honoring the emotional experiences of those affected. Through the dedicated efforts of Sergio Martinez Beltran and Kat Lonsdorf, listeners gain insight into the compassionate approaches necessary for ethical and impactful reporting during crises. Their stories not only shed light on the immediate aftermath of the Texas floods but also celebrate the resilience and solidarity of the human spirit in times of profound adversity.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "The GPS was not aware of those road closures..."
  — Sergio Martinez Beltran [00:43]

• "I am always trying to keep a mind front of mind that you are approaching people on what is probably one of the worst, if not the worst day of their life."
  — Kat Lonsdorf [03:50]

• "For me, it was to give our audiences a sense of who was impacted by this..."
  — Sergio Martinez Beltran [04:51]

• "Really taking the time, once you can, to sit and think about it..."
  — Kat Lonsdorf [06:39]

• "I tend to follow up with folks even when I'm no longer on the assignment..."
  — Sergio Martinez Beltran [07:06]

• "I witnessed the moment where they were reunited and this moment of just pure joy in such a terrible setting."
  — Kat Lonsdorf [08:08]

• "Seeing that was very, very moving..."
  — Sergio Martinez Beltran [09:10]

---

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the essence of the podcast episode, providing listeners with an in-depth understanding of the reporters' experiences and the human stories that emerged from the Texas floods.

Transcript

[Scott Detrow]

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS considered. I'm Scott Detrow. Two weeks ago, Austin based NPR immigration correspondent Sergio Martinez Beltran was on a reporting trip in Detroit when catastrophic flooding hit the Texas hill country. He was reporting a totally different story, but as often happens with breaking news, reporters switched gears. He was soon on a plane headed back home to cover the Texas floods.

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

Landed in Austin, left my personal car in the airport parking lot, rented a car and just like went straight to Kerrville.

[Scott Detrow]

Even though he rented an suv. Getting to Kirk county, the epicenter of the disaster, took much longer than usual.

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

There were a lot of roads that were closed because they still had water.

[Scott Detrow]

On them in those early hours. His GPS wasn't helping much either.

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

It was kind of scary because the GPS was not aware of those road closures. So at times it was sending me through areas that as soon as I got to those roads, I had to stop and slam on my brakes because there was water and I could not see it.

[Scott Detrow]

Once he arrived, Sergio's first stop was an elementary school that had been turned into a reunification center for victims and and their families.

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

Right away I knew this was pretty bad because there were hundreds of people there and it was 9pm and hundreds of people were out there waiting for their loved ones.

[Kat Lonsdorf]

So I came on Tuesday, which was four days after the floods.

[Scott Detrow]

That's NPR reporter Kat Lonsdorf. She was part of a later wave of staffers sent to Texas to cover the disaster, the scope of which was still coming into focus when Kat arrived in Kerr County.

[Kat Lonsdorf]

There's a little bit more clarity of what the destruction is. There's more clarity of the numbers of people lost, of the people still missing. And quite frankly, a lot of times around then is when it starts turning into a recovery operation.

[Scott Detrow]

Water from the river had receded by then, but Katz says the destruction that was left behind was unlike any natural disaster she'd seen before.

[Kat Lonsdorf]

I was driving in off the highway, which is about two miles away from the river. And as I'm driving in, everything looks normal. And it's not until you get a block, two blocks, three blocks from the river, where it just feels like you flip into the upside down.

[Scott Detrow]

Consider this covering natural disasters is one of the hardest assignments out there. Coming up, we hear from two NPR reporters on how to ask questions and report these stories with empathy and care from npr, I'm Scott Detrow.

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[Scott Detrow]

It's consider this from NPR. NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran and Kat Lonsdorf both brought different approaches to their coverage of the Texas floods this month. I started our interview by asking both of them about how they approached people who experienced the worst in the floods.

[Kat Lonsdorf]

I am always trying to keep a mind front of mind that you are approaching people on what is probably one of the worst, if not the worst day of their life. I am always telling them, you know, who I am, what were they trying to do? And then if they have really any hesitation whatsoever about talking to me in that moment of what they're experiencing, I don't push it because I think that someone letting you into that space of grief, that space of mourning, is kind of just a sacred space for someone to let another human, especially a stranger, into. And for me, I'm always amazed how many people allow us into that space with them. And I always try to be just really respectful of that time.

[Scott Detrow]

Sarah Hayer Were you thinking what to.

[NPR Interviewer]

You was the most important thing for you to get out of those interviews? Was it a sense of what happened? Was it a sense of how they were feeling? What were you thinking about as you face those hard conversations?

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

For me, it was to give our audiences to a sense of who was impacted by this. For me, for example, it was important to go into the trailer parks near the Guadalupe river and talk to people there and tell their stories. For me, it was also important and I always try to approach it this way of trying to go to places where maybe people have not been annoyed by reporters as much, quite frankly. Yeah, so that means driving more, trying to get to places that are a little bit more complicated at times, a little bit more dangerous, but doing that. So, for example, one of the days I try to go to Hunt, Texas, which is also an area affected, and it's usually a 20 minute drive from Kerrville to Hunt, but the roads were closed. So I drove an hour and a half through back roads, going through bridges that were kind of sketchy to get to these areas and talk to people because those stories had not been told, people had not been approached by reporters there yet. So for me, that was super important. And it's also always giving the person I'm talking to the control of the interview. You know, that's how I approach it. At the end of the day, I'm so grateful they're talking to me and I'm going to ask a bunch of questions that might sound invasive or uncomfortable or might feel a little bit, you know, hard to talk about because it's about their worst day of their lives. But I always tell them, you know, if you want this to end, we stop the interview and we move on.

[Scott Detrow]

Kat, you have had a lot of.

[NPR Interviewer]

Experience covering hard stories. Whether it's this most recent assignment, whether it was a lot of time you spent reporting in Israel, whether it was reporting you've done in the war in Ukraine and elsewhere.

[Scott Detrow]

I mean, how do you manage the.

[NPR Interviewer]

Just very overwhelming nature of the stories you're covering and the interviews you're doing?

[Kat Lonsdorf]

Yeah, I mean, I think that's one of the more challenging things when you're covering this kind of stuff is also taking care of yourself. So really taking the time, once you can, to sit and think about it, you know, and really like you're talking to your other colleagues because they're also seeing a lot of the same things that you are. And it's just so important to acknowledge it between each other.

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

I think too, what makes it hard for us, or at least for me, is that many times we do this type of coverage, right, and there's no closure, or it feels like there's no closure. Like we go in for a few days and then we are pulled out of the assignment and then that's it. Right. So for me, it helps me to stay in touch with people. So I tend to follow up with folks even when I'm no longer on the assignment. I tend to keep talking to them just to. To almost navigate the whole situation with them to see what, what's happening. So it doesn't feel like there's no closure for me in a way. Right. And also, I feel like it's the. The right thing to do because we have asked these people to tell us their stories on their worst days. I think the least they deserve is for us to stay with them a little longer.

[NPR Interviewer]

I want to ask you both, it's been a couple weeks now since you were back. What is one interview or conversation or just something you physically saw that's sticking with you and to you tells the story of this terrible flooding.

[Kat Lonsdorf]

For me, there was this moment. I did a story about people looking for other people's pets that were lost and that went missing. And, you know, on its head, maybe it's not the most serious story, but there was this moment, you know, I was following this woman who drove five hours from Dallas overnight to help people find their missing pets. It's this thing that she's done before in other disasters, and she really felt a calling to do it. And, you know, in that moment with this woman who was out there trying to find cats for people in a trailer park who had lost everything but were also looking for their pets, you know, I witnessed a moment where she actually found a cat that a woman who lived there who was also there searching through the rubble of her ruined home, she thought her cat had died. And I got to witness the moment where they were reunited and this moment of just pure joy in such a terrible setting.

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

That's Rambo.

[Scott Detrow]

He's a lie.

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

Thank you. That's Rambo.

[Scott Detrow]

Yeah. He heard your voice, Mom. Rambo. Oh, goodies.

[Kat Lonsdorf]

And those stick with me just as much as the tragedy.

[NPR Interviewer]

I will say, as somebody listening to that story in the car, not knowing how it turned out, you really kept the listener in suspense until the cat was safely found.

[Scott Detrow]

But, yeah, I mean, you said it wasn't maybe the most important thing, but it's something that people can deeply relate to. And if it's your cat or dog.

[NPR Interviewer]

Missing.

[Scott Detrow]

That'S a really terrible feeling.

[Sergio Martinez Beltran]

For me, it was to see how the community came together. And I know this happens often in events like this, but it does not stop, you know, to amaze me to see that. I went to a Salvation Army a few days after the floods, and the line to volunteer was so long that they had to turn people away because they just didn't have enough space for volunteers. Churches were bringing more supplies. They were driving trucks to bring supplies from different parts of the state, and they had, you know, they were turned out away too because they didn't have space. So they were like, come back tomorrow. We hope to have some space tomorrow. So seeing that was very, very moving. I also, when I think about these moments of, like, the community coming together, I think I can also think about how, you know, we cover this as, as a network, too. You know, Kat mentioned there were a lot of us from NPR on the ground, physically on the ground. But then there were also people behind the scenes, like our research team helping us find folks and helping us go to places that, you know, maybe we didn't have access to, but they were helping us from their offices in D.C. or whatnot. We also had member station reporters, Texas Public Radio, Houston Public Media. So many other local public radio reporters were on the ground from day one. And that, I think, made the difference in our coverage, too, because we're all, like, helping each other try to tell this story that again, it hasn't ended.

[Scott Detrow]

That was NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran and Kat Lahnsdorf. This episode was produced by Kira Joaquim. It was edited by Adam Raney. Our executive producer is Sam Ienigun. It's Consider this from npr. I'm Scott Detrow.

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[Kat Lonsdorf]

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