Painstaking recovery efforts for the more than 100 people lost in the deadly floods in Texas Hill Country continued this week despite heavy rainfall in the area. Search teams combed through the area surrounding the Guadalupe River in search of any signs of life.
Governor Greg Abbot said the July 4th floods could be the deadliest in the state’s history as at least 135 are dead – 116 of them were in Kerr County, alone.
“More people lost their lives in Kerrville than those who lost their lives in Hurricane Harvey,” he said during a press conference Thursday.
“I’ve heard so many stories about so many rescues that have taken place,” he added. “Rescues that literally saved lives. Had it not been for those rescues, dozens of people in this community would have lost their life. And there are others that may not have lost their life, but they were still rescued, and they are now able to move forward because of the fact they were rescued.”
CBN’s Operation Blessing is also there, helping the survivors.
A group of volunteers from Agora Ministries in San Antonio, TX joined the team to begin clearing out a local man’s home, which has been in his family in Hunt, Texas for generations.
“Hunt is such a small community,” Bin Johnson expressed through tears. “We just know everybody here. We know that [Camp Mystic] girls… it sucks.”
Johnson was not in the area when the National Weather Service issued flash flood alerts at 1 a.m. warning people in the area they were in immediate danger.
However, his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children were the only family members present at the property over the Fourth of July holiday.
“It was 5 a.m. when my brother called me and said turn on the newschannel,” Johnson said. “My brother and his two children were here when it hit around 3:30 a.m. My brother and his wife were sleeping upstairs. Little Sadie who is almost two was sleeping in [the downstairs] room.”
Johnson recounts the little girl’s baby monitor went out and started beeping. That sound woke up her father and he decided to check to see what was going on and discovered she was inches from drowning from the floodwaters that had quietly made their way inside.
“Water was rising in her room and that is what killed the baby monitor,” Johnson shared. “He had to jump on beds and swim in chest-high water to get to her.”
“The water was to her chin,” he told OB’s Hayley Henson adding that “if not for that baby monitor, she would be dead.”
Although the multi-generational property lies in ruins, Johnson says, it means nothing because he is grateful that his family is safe.
He is also thankful for Operation Blessing volunteers who have helped him to clear the debris from the home.
“It’s been really great,” he expressed. “I was alone for the first day, so it’s been nice to have some backup… They have been really encouraging.”
Johnny McCashan’s childhood home holds many memories. His grandfather and his grandmother, an influential artisan in the Texas Hill Country, purchased the home nearly thirty years ago.
He told Operation Blessing that on the night of the flood, his nephew and two other families were on the property. Their children were further back on the property.
“They couldn’t go get the kids because there was a river between this house and where the kids were,” he explained. “They had to wait until the water went down.”
Minutes turned into hours. The once pleasant river was now a mile-wide and raging, rising to its highest level ever, McCashan described. The chasm only heightened the children’s and their parent’s sense of panic.
The only way the family could communicate to their children was by phone.
“They told them, ‘It’s going to be ok,'” McCashan said. “There was no power, it was black, but the kids sang songs to keep happy.”
The floodwaters eventually receded, and the children were rescued, but the family’s cars and house were destroyed.
Operation Blessing came to help McCashan, and he is thankful.
“There would be so much to do,” he explained overcome with emotion, “All these people are working here 1752863706.”
“I almost get overwhelmed with all the people who are showing up…the people, the products, the cleaning supplies, the food,” he expressed. “They are helping me get through a lot…It brings my spirits up.”
McCashan is keeping a positive outlook, telling Operation Blessing, “We are going to make it here because of all the help.”
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