Reports are beginning to emerge of extraordinary stories of survival from the Texas Hill Country floods, even as the official death toll continued mounting, reaching at least 27 on Saturday.
A young woman was dramatically rescued after she was carried 12 miles down the Guadalupe River by raging flood waters, and later pictured clinging to branches of a tree. The woman – who has not been identified publicly – was rescued, News 4 San Antonio reported.
Erin Burgess told the outlet that the rain on Thursday night and into Friday was “pretty heavy, but no big deal”. She was woken by the storm at 3.30am, and waters around her home in the Bumble Bee Hills neighborhood in Kerr county started to rise.
Within 2o minutes, she said, water was coming in through the walls and rushing through the front and back doors. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough that she was able to walk up the hill to a neighbor’s home.
“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung on to it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said. She clung to her 19-year-old son, Burgess, through the ordeal.
“Thankfully he’s over 6ft tall. That’s the only thing that saved me – was hanging on to him,” she told the outlet.
In Ingram, Texas, the fiancee of one man described how he died saving her and their children. Christinia Wilson told the Texas news station KHOU that her fiance, Julian Ryan, severed an artery in his arm punching out a window to get her, their children and his mother out of their home as flood waters rushed in early on Friday.
Wilson said she kept calling for emergency help, but no one could arrive in time to save Ryan.
“He looked at me and the kids and my mother-in-law and said: ‘I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all,’” Wilson told KHOU.
Ryan’s sister, Connie Salas, said to the station: “He died a hero, and that will never go unnoticed.”
Officials have said that a flood watch was issued on Thursday afternoon with estimated rainfalls, but that was upgraded to a flood warning for at least 30,000 people overnight. Officials have also said that the area around the Guadalupe River, known as “flood alley”, does not have a flood warning system.
As of Saturday morning, 850 people had been rescued by emergency services, with 167 having been rescued by helicopter.
The devastation has triggered a scramble to locate as many as two dozen children missing from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp on the banks of the river, but the missing also include campers who were not connected to that camp.
Among them are four young adults who were last heard from at 4am on Friday morning when they were attempting to reach higher ground. They have been identified by family as Ella Cahill, Aidan Heartfield, Joyce Badon and Reese Manchaca.
“My little sister, her boyfriend, and their two friends are missing due to flood,” Mackenzie Hodulik said on a Facebook post. “Last we heard from them was at 4am. They were trying to escape home to get to higher ground.”
Among the confirmed dead were at least nine children, officials said.
As of Saturday morning, other families and children who were still missing include the following. Anyone who sees them or knows where they are is asked to call authorities immediately.
DeeAnn and Gary Knetsch
The Knetsch family was staying at the HTR RV park in Kerrville and went missing after the water rose.
Megan and Jake Moeller
The Moellers were also staying at the HTR RV park in Kerrville and went missing after the water rose.
Robert Leroy Brake Sr and Joni Kay Brake
The Brake family was staying in a cabin at HRT TX campgrounds in Kerrville. They hadn’t been heard from after the flooding.
Lainey Landry
Lainey was at Camp Mystic when the flooding hit. She hasn’t been heard from since. Her parents, Ben and Natalie Landry, shared a photo with KHOU 11 reporter Amanda Henderson.
Kellyanne Lytal
Kellyanne Lytal was at Camp Mystic and is still unaccounted for. Her father was asking for thoughts and prayers.
Greta Toranzo
Greta Toranzo, a Sinclair elementary student in Houston, was missing from Camp Mystic. Her family asked the school to share her photo while they search for her.
Harber family in Hunt, Texas
Jennifer Harber and her brother, RJ, haven’t heard from RJ’s children, Brooke and Blair, as well as the siblings’ parents, Charlene and Mike.
They were at a house in Hunt, Texas, when the flood waters took over.
They’re also searching for two dogs: Daisy Mae and Lilly Lou.
Tianna (Ty) Mabey
Tianna Mabey was last seen at about 5am at the HTR campground in Kerrville.
Her daughter said her mother’s boyfriend was rescued from a tree.
Holly Frizzell
Family members said Holly Frizzell was at her home in Casa Bonita when the flooding started. She hasn’t been seen since Friday at about 3am.
Pam and Mike Smith, Brian and Blake Carpenter
The family of Pam and Mike Smith, Brian Carpenter and Blake were asking for help finding them after the devastating flooding in central Texas. They were last known to be at their home in Casa Bonita.
