These graphics show the scope of Texas’ Hill Country floods
These maps and charts show the scale and intensity of the Hill Country floods and highlight Camp Mystic’s proximity to high-risk flood zones. Full Story
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Chris Essig is the data visuals editor at The Texas Tribune. Based in Austin, he leads a team of developers who build charts, maintain public databases and analyze data to help reporters hold elected officials accountable. Chris has been a newsroom developer for 10 years and has worked in several local newsrooms. As a native of the Midwest, Chris received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and spent six years in Iowa working at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids and at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in Waterloo.
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![A blue line chart superimposed with a background image of the aerial view of damage along the Guadalupe River near Kerrville on July 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Illustration by Carla Astudillo / Photo by Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
Central Texas flooding death toll rises to at least 100 as search continues for survivors
About two dozen people were still missing. Many more people could still be unaccounted for, officials warned, noting that visitors to the area for the July 4th weekend make it difficult to assess an exact number. Full Story
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![A small boat is wrapped around a tree along with other debris in Ingram on Saturday, July 5, 2025. Ingram is a small town about seven miles northwest of Kerrville.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers have gotten used to state budget surpluses. That era may be ending.
As federal pandemic aid ends and sales tax revenues cool, analysts say it could constrain the Texas Legislature in coming years. But they don’t see an immediate budget crisis on the horizon. Full Story
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![Dense fog blankets the dome of the Capitol in Austin on March 12, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
How couriers changed the playing field of the Texas Lottery
Lottery couriers have gained newfound scrutiny in Texas after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick raised questions about the use of a courier to sell an $83.5 million jackpot ticket. Full Story
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![Texas Lottery cards in a 7-Eleven in Central Austin on Feb 20, 2025.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune -
These four Texas counties are among the fastest growing in the country
Texas’ population growth has slowed, but the state’s major urban areas are still adding hundreds of thousands of residents. Full Story
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![Pedestrians walk through downtown Dallas on Nov. 07, 2023.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Here are the biggest stories from our data visuals team in 2024
The Tribune’s data journalists helped visualize everything from voter participation and extreme weather to gaps in the state’s border wall. Here are some of the highlights. Full Story
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![Share art for the zoning regulations story for the affordable housing series.]()
Credit: Carla Astudillo -
Texas’ uneven population boom is creating ghost towns in many rural counties
Local leaders and rural revitalization experts say Texas’ smallest towns can survive — despite a shift to urban and suburban counties — but it will take investments. Full Story
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![Cornudas, Texas with a population of less than 20, hosts a chili cook-off hoping to draw over 1,000 visitors on September 28, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Search the newly updated Texas state employees salaries database
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of October 1. Full Story
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![Government Salaries Explorer]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Ben Hasson / Texas Tribune -
Meet our newest journalists: Sandra Santos, Julie Chang and Rob Reid
Santos is our evening news editor, Chang our health and human services editor and Reid our education data developer. Full Story
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![From left: Sandra Santos, Julie Chang and Rob Reid.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of July 1. Full Story
![Government Salaries Explorer]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Ben Hasson / Texas Tribune