Brothers recall terrifying moment they swam for their lives to escape floods
Two brothers who narrowly escaped the Texas flash floods have recounted their terrifying ordeal, with one of them having to swim for his life.
The horror occurred after the Guadalupe River burst its banks early on Friday. The water rose by 26ft in just 45 minutes, officials said. At least 51 people, including 15 children, have died following the flash floods and dozens remain missing.
Piers and Ruffin Boyett were at Camp La Junta in Hunt, Texas, when they spoke to ABC affiliate KSAT about their cabin being inundated during the heavy rains. Piers described how they had to scramble up into the rafters of the cabin to avoid the swiftly rising waters.
Ruffin said: "I couldn't sleep because of the lightning," Piers chimed in: "People were screaming that there was a flood. There was a lot of water."
Ruffin revealed to the broadcaster that he was the first to stir in his cabin around 4am local time on Friday. He mentioned that another camper woke up simultaneously and dashed to alert the counsellor, who then roused the rest of the boys in the cabin, reports the Mirror US.
Once fully awake, the campers grasped the peril they were in. "Oh my God, we're floating," is what Ruffin Boyett remembered thinking. The boys explained that it was at this point they realised they had to act fast. "The flood started getting bigger," Piers remembered.
"We have bunk beds in our cabin, and it (the water) was going to the top bunk. We had one choice, and we had to swim out of our cabins."
The campers, along with the Boyett brothers, managed to swim to safety and took refuge in a cabin on higher ground before being evacuated by bus from the Guadalupe River. As of Sunday morning, the flood has claimed at least 51 lives.
In Hunt, the families of four Camp Mystic campers have confirmed their children perished in the flood. Amidst the catastrophic floods in Kerr County, Texas, over 20 campers are still reported missing.
The young campers, Janie Hunt, Renee Smajstrla, Sarah Marsh, and Lila Bonner, all aged nine, have been the first to be found and named publicly. On Friday, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced that more than 20 children were still missing at the private Christian summer camp for girls, which accommodates around 750 kids.
Over 850 residents of Kerr County have been forced to leave their homes.
Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice said there could be more people missing in the region than the 27 girls unaccounted for from Camp Mystic. "We are kind of looking at this in two ways, called the known missing, which is the 27... We will not put a number on the other side because we just don't know," he said at a news conference.
He said "hundreds" have been rescued from campsites around the Guadalupe River so far, and searches are ongoing.
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Emergency crews suspend search for Texas flooding victims amid new rain warnings
It was the first time a new round of severe weather has paused the search since the flooding earlier this month. Ingram Fire Department officials ordered search crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County until further notice on Sunday, warning the potential for a flash flood is high. Search-and-rescue teams have been searching for missing victims of the July 4 weekend flooding. Search and rescue efforts were expected to resume on Monday, depending on river flow, fire department spokesman Brian Lochte said. 'We're working with a few crews and airboats and SAR (search-and-rescue) boats just in case,' Mr Lochte said. As heavy rain fell on Sunday, National Weather Service forecasters warned that the Guadalupe River could rise to nearly 15 feet (4.6 meters) by Sunday afternoon, about five feet above flood stage and enough to put the Highway 39 bridge near Hunt under water. 'Numerous secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous,' a weather service warning said. The destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (eight meters) on the Guadalupe River in just 45 minutes before daybreak on July 4, washing away homes and vehicles. Ever since, searchers have used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp. Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counsellors as well as owner Dick Eastland. The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.
