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Murfreesboro mom with deep Texas roots reflects on devastating flooding

Until 2019, Jennifer Dobbs and her family lived in New Braunfels, Texas.
Murfreesboro mom with deep Texas roots reflects on devastating flooding
Local TN mom with deep TX roots reflects on flooding
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — So many of us across middle Tennessee are heartbroken watching the devastation in Texas.

For some folks, the flooding is happening in a region of the country they used to call home.

Jennifer Dobbs and her family moved to Murfreesboro in 2019. Before that, she spent most of her life living in New Braunfels, Texas.

"You've got the Guadalupe River that floats straight through down Canyon Lake," said Jennifer Dobbs, a Murfreesboro resident.

While the community of New Braunfels wasn't hit as hard as some places in Texas, this past weekend, rising waters rushed in.

"We were confident in what news sources said, that the lake would contain it; well, there was flash flooding," Dobbs said.

That flash flooding reminded Dobbs of the flood she lived through there in 1998.

"It came, I think, a foot to our property line, and then the whole neighborhood behind was destroyed," Dobbs said.

While many eyes in Nashville were looking up over the holiday weekend, hers were looking down.

"It's been rough. I've been on my phone the entire time, on Facebook, doing updates,” Dobbs said.

In addition to close friends, her teenager is spending the summer there.

"My daughter's there, which was scary for me, you know, so I'm constantly checking on her,” Dobbs said.

Her phone is a lifeline and a way to connect with loved ones in Texas, even when the news coming back is tough to hear at times.

"He found his friend's deceased body, the hero who died saving his kids was a neighbor a few doors down from him," Dobbs said, reading a text off her phone from a friend in Texas.

She said her heart goes out to so many, especially the kids and families at Camp Mystic.

"As a mother, I can't imagine the pain that these families are going through. It's heartbreaking for me watching it. I just don't, I don't know how they're containing it,” Dobbs said.

Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel5.com.

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