With Texas Flood Victims Weighing Heavily On Her Heart, Kaitlin Butts Offers Message Of Hope Ahead Of “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder” Performance

While the news cycle may have moved on to the next thing, the horrific Texas floods are still weighing heavily on those who live and those who loved ones in the community.

We are 10 days removed from the flooding of South and Central Texas, when on the 4th of July, in the early hours of the morning, a natural disaster struck as the Guadalupe River rose over a foot every five minutes, increasing its total height by more than 20 feet in 45 minutes. The flash flood swept through an area filled with summer camps and small towns about 70 miles northwest of San Antonio.

One of those camps that was severely impacted was the Christian girls’ camp, Camp Mystic. Cabins on the grounds were swept up in the flood, a number of young girls were tragically killed in the floodwaters, as well as Dick Eastland, longtime owner and director of Camp Mystic, who gave his life to try and save campers. As the death toll has risen to twenty-seven campers from Camp Mystic, the total death toll climbs past 130, families are grieving loved ones and hoping that recovery efforts can find those still missing.

While each life lost is devastating, one story has struck America in the chest. Two sisters, Blair and Brooke Harber, ages 13 and 11, who were vacationing with their family at the Casa Bonita cabin community in Hunt, Texas, were swept away by the floodwaters on July 4th. When the two girls were discovered, their hands were tightly interlaced, but sadly, they were not found alive.

As someone with a younger sister, when I heard this, I was sick to my stomach. The thought of going through such a horrific event with your sister and still holding on so tightly to them is truly gut-wrenching.

Over the weekend, Kaitlin Butts took a second to address her audience, sharing that this story, in particular, was weighing heavily on her heart.

“A little bit differently than I normally do. I know a lot of people packed in here for a good time, but I’ve been watching the news, and I’ve been thinking about the floods this week, and since the day of the Fourth. And it’s been on my mind and my heart just thinking about everybody involved, and I’ve just felt really hopeless and really devastated, and I’m just angry. I just feel like I’ve been thinking about those girls, and I’ve been thinking about those girls…those girls who were holding each other’s hands until it was all gone.”

She then tells the audience that in times of tragedy like this, she finds herself thinking about how we have to be there for one another:

“And I’ve started thinking about it, and I’ve realized that we’ve got to start doing that sh*t. We’ve got to start holding each other’s hands ’til it’s all over. Tonight I just want you to look around at your neighbors, look around to your left and your right, and look at the people around you tonight and just love on each other. The people that don’t look like you, that don’t act like you, that don’t talk like you, that don’t think like you, just love your f***** neighbor, okay guys?”

Butts then says that, as a singer and performer, all she can offer the crowd regarding her feelings is a song. While Butts’ stellar catalog is full of songs about cursing men, murdering folks, and drugs and drinking, she does have a few in her repertoire that veer away from that subject matter and offer a feeling of hope. One in particular is her Secret Sisters cover, “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder.”

@kaitlinbuttsKeep holding eachother’s hands and love on your neighbors. Love you, Texas.♬ Tomorrow Will Be Kinder – Kaitlin Butts

After taking a few seconds to collect herself, she dives into the song, and as she performs, you can feel the heaviness of the floods on her heart. She sings the words with the purest intention, “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder.”

“Black clouds are behind me
I now can see ahead
Often I wonder why I try
Hoping for an end
Sorrow weighs my shoulders down
And trouble haunts my mind
But I know the present will not last
Tomorrow will be kinder…”

Kaitlin Butts is not the only artist who has been thinking about Blair and Brooke Harber. Kansas City, Missouri-born artist Thad Cockrell penned a beautifully heartbreaking ballad in honor of the sisters and hopes to release it to raise some money for flood victims. The poetic way he wrote the song honors that the sisters got to spend their final moments together, saying the flood “didn’t wash them away, it carried them home to that brighter day.”

Grab a tissue before listening to this one.

@thadcockrellWe’re about to release this song in hopes to raise some money for the flood victims. Stay tuned.♬ original sound – Thad Cockrell

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