Hundreds of people – many of them college students – came with shovels and rakes in hand Tuesday to help clean up after floodwater tore through San Marcos.
"To sit there from my home, to watch high water rescues all morning … It's been a crazy couple of days,” Michelle Harper with United Way of Hays County said.
United Way is among the dozens of local businesses, churches and even college students pitching in on the massive cleanup effort.
“You know the heart of our city, but then to see it in action is amazing,” Harper said. “To see young people come out, neighbors who maybe know somebody personally who lost things in the flood, but just to see our neighborhood come out."
Groups of volunteers went door to door in 16 affected neighborhoods Tuesday asking what they could do to help.
Miguel Guerrero's home is about a football field away from the Blanco River. Even still, he estimates his house took on about five feet of water.
"Sure enough, we got inside and there was just mud everywhere,” Guerrero said. “The ground was just destroyed."
Guerrero says about two dozen friends have helped him rip out the flooring and move furniture to the curb since this weekend. He believes the volunteers will make a big difference for those not as lucky.
"I saw the group of people. It was just amazing to see that kind of thing,” Guerrero said. “It's going to help a lot.”
Guerrero and his family, who have lived in San Marcos for 30 years, have no plans of moving.
"'98 happened. 2013 happened. We both got evacuated those times, so you rebuild and you regroup,” Guerrero said. “We're going to stay here."
The Red Cross is looking for volunteers to help the San Marcos area cleanup effort.
For those interested in donating, the United Way has set up a recovery fund that will only go toward local efforts in Hays and Caldwell counties. You can donate to that fund by texting "Floods" to 41444.