LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas business owner is feeling the impact of the deadly flooding in Texas as he watches the place that shaped him get washed away.
Brian Buechner, owner of Big B's Texas BBQ, is preparing to open a new location on Sahara and Cimarron, but his heart remains in Texas where devastating floods have torn through the communities where he grew up.
"It's just an unbelievable tragedy, and there's not words for it," Buechner said.
While tables are arriving and equipment is being installed at his soon-to-open restaurant, Buechner can't help but think about his hometown just south of San Antonio.
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As a child, Buechner spent summers on the Guadalupe River and exploring the Texas Hill Country. He says knowing the places where he built a lifetime of memories were torn apart by the flood is unbearable.
"Thousands of people daily floating that river… 30–40 campgrounds on it… it's one of the only rivers where you can do that," Buechner said. "We spent a lot of time in the Hill Country area hunting, fishing... Rudy's BBQ was a treat for us."
Buechner's mother was visiting nearby Canyon Lake for the Fourth of July weekend. From her elevated home, she watched the destruction below unfold.
"She says it was an incredible wall of water that was filling the whole lake," Buechner said. "It's going to affect people for a long time."
Big B's Texas BBQ is built on connections to his home state. The wood he smokes to cook with is brought in from family farmland near where the floods hit.
"The Hill Country's like Vegas — when it rains, it floods. The ground is rocky… it doesn't soak in, it all runs down into whatever stream it can find," Buechner said.
When asked what message he wants Las Vegas residents to take from this disaster, Buechner responded: "If you can help… help. I wish I could. If it wasn't finals week, I'd be in my trailer down there feeding people."
Buechner says his new location is expected to open by the end of the month, and once their doors open, he will host a fundraiser where all proceeds will go to those impacted by the devastating floods.
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