Faith brings light to devastated Texas town after deadly flooding disaster

'There’s death down on the river, but there’s life up on this mountain,' artist Max Greiner Jr. told Fox News Digital

 By Rachel Wolf Fox News
Published July 9, 2025 6:51pm EDT

KERR COUNTY, Texas – Volunteers have descended upon Kerr County, Texas, in the days following last weekend’s disastrous flood. 
While many have come to help with searches, cleanup efforts and donations, others are looking to heal the community in a different way. 
Several faith-based groups are working to help survivors and victims’ families lean on God as they grapple with the long road to recovery. 

President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, Texas, after deadly flash floods devastated the region. 
Trump made the announcement in a post on his Truth Social platform, writing that it will “ensure that our Brave First Responders immediately have the resources they need.” 
“These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing,” the president’s post read. “The Trump Administration continues to work closely with State and Local Leaders. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was on the ground yesterday with Governor Greg Abbott, who is working hard to help the people of his Great State. Our incredible U.S. Coast Guard, together with State First Responders, have saved more than 850 lives. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!” 
The death toll across Central Texas climbed to nearly 70 on Sunday morning after officials in Kerr County provided an update.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 59 people were confirmed dead, while the missing included 11 young girls and one counselor from Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas.

​Sen Chuck Schumer fumes over Supreme Court backing Tennessee's ban on transgender treatments for minors, while Republicans champion 'sanity'
 By Danielle Wallace , Kelly Phares Fox News

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Wednesday to uphold Tennessee's ban on transgender "treatments" for minors. 
"This Supreme Court seems to have forgotten that one of their jobs is to protect individual rights and protect individuals from being discriminated against. It's an awful decision," Schumer told reporters on Capitol Hill. 
Schumer accused Republicans of trying to infringe on the rights of transgender youths. 

​The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), meanwhile, said the majority's decision "helps restore sanity for millions of families across America." 
"Boys are boys and girls are girls," RAGA President and Executive Director Adam Piper said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "While Republican AGs crusade against risky, irreversible gender transition procedures for minors, Dem pander to their extreme donors and slouch towards Gomorrah. We must continue to protect our daughters from men trying to invade their single-sex spaces, privacy and athletic competitions." 
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti – whose office handled the defense in the case – praised the decision, saying that "the common sense of Tennessee voters prevailed over judicial activism." 

The Justice Department accused a small city in northern Idaho of religious discrimination after it denied a zoning permit to a local evangelical church seeking to hold worship services.
The DOJ announced on May 20 it had filed a lawsuit alleging the city of Troy, Idaho, violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) after it denied a conditional use permit to Christ Church to hold services in its downtown C-1 zoning district, where nonreligious assembly uses such as clubs, museums, auditoriums, and art galleries were allowed.
The RLUIPA is federal legislation passed in 2000 that’s intended to "protect individuals, houses of worship, and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning and landmarking laws," the DOJ states.
According to the lawsuit, Christ Church, a small but quickly growing evangelical church based in Moscow, Idaho, sought to accommodate its growth in September 2022 by establishing another church campus in the neighboring town of Troy. 


The conservative, evangelical church faced opposition from some in the Moscow community over the years because of its beliefs and influence in the liberal college town, with some residents boycotting businesses tied to the church, according to the Spokesman-Review. 
The church made national headlines in September 2020 after a few of its members were arrested for not wearing masks at an outside worship service protesting the city's mask mandate during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Senior Pastor Douglas Wilson faced criticism for his provocative writings and allegations he wants to make America a "Christian theocracy," according to a recent article from Politico.
Christ Church allegedly reached out to various locations in Troy to rent on weekends for services, without success. In November 2022, Matt Meyer, an elder at the church and Troy resident, purchased a vacant, former bank in the city’s downtown business district with the intention of converting part of the property into a space to be used by the church for worship services and church meetings, while the other part of the property would be rented out as an event space for the community.
Read Full Story Here: www.foxnews.com/media/justice-department-takes-small-idaho-town-religious-freedom-battle-over-church-permit

Noah's Ark theory gains momentum as soil tests reveal organic remains

A group of international researchers say they're getting closer and closer to identifying the possible remains of Noah’s Ark – and new test results are promising.
The focus of the research, the Durupinar site in eastern Turkey, was first identified in the 1950s. 
For decades, it's been speculated that the boat-shaped site once harbored Noah's Ark, but no definitive proof has emerged. Now, an organization called Noah's Ark Scans believes that recent soil samples point toward the site once housing "ancient wood."
​
Researchers collected soil samples from the site last September and analyzed them through this winter. The results "show significantly higher levels of organic matter and potassium compared to surrounding areas," according to a recent statement from the organization.
"[The results] provide compelling evidence of a unique, potentially man-made structure beneath the surface, distinct from the surrounding mudflow," Noah's Ark Scans said. 



"These findings suggest the presence of decayed wood or other organic materials, consistent with a large, ancient structure preserved within the mudflow," the statement added.
Lead archaeological researcher Andrew Jones told Fox News Digital that researchers are registering 2.72 times more carbon inside the "boat-shaped object" compared to its immediate outside location.
"The rotting ancient wood inside the boat-shaped area is likely creating a localized soil microenvironment by lowering pH … increasing organic matter [and] elevating potassium," he said. 


Rotting wood directly contributes to soil organic matter," he added. 
"As wood decomposes, it breaks down into humus, a stable form of organic matter rich in carbon. This increases the organic matter content in the soil where the wood is located."
In a statement, soil scientist William Crabtree said the results indicate "something extraordinary."
"The soil composition is markedly different from the natural mudflow, indicating something extraordinary at this site," Crabtree stated.