As the sun disappeared below the horizon Saturday evening, a warm glow was cast over the Austin Community College campus in Leander where a few hundred people gathered to honor the victims of recent flooding and show appreciation for those helping the survivors.
"There's a lot of hurt and a lot of pain," Leander resident Kate McDonald said before the vigil began. "I can't believe the ripple effect of the victims that have suffered from loss of their families, their children."
At least 17 people from the Austin-area were killed by flooding over the Fourth of July weekend. They included 15-year-old Braxton Jarmon, a rising sophomore at Glenn High School in Leander.
As people filed into the vigil, Texas and U.S. flags fluttered at half-staff. Volunteers in reflective vests handed out candles and tissues, guiding attendees to a lawn where a small stage and sound system had been set up.
Leander Mayor Christine DeLisle stepped up to the microphone and spoke, her voice occasionally breaking with emotion.
"There's no roadmap for how a community gets through something like this when loved ones are still missing and so many are living with unimaginable heartbreak," she said.
"Over the years, there will be days and events that bring the grief back as we feel the absences — empty seats at the dinner table, high school graduations and milestone birthdays," she said. "So how do we heal as a community? We continue to show up."
The gathering had a distinctly religious tone. Local Protestant churches played a central role. Pastors took turns reading passages from the Bible between Christian worship songs performed by an acoustic guitarist and a backing vocalist singing harmonies.
Toward the end of the vigil, a gentle breeze made it difficult to keep candles lit, so attendees raised their phone flashlights instead, creating points of soft light as they sang "Amazing Grace."
Many in the crowd hadn't lost loved ones directly, but said they came to support their neighbors and process the disturbing experience.
"It's just being with the community and showing that we care," said Lisa Houdek, who'd spent the day helping a friend of a friend in Sandy Creek, the worst affected part of Leander. "I was very happy that I was able to hug the owner of the house today three times. She needed that."
