Texas firefighter says there could be flood victims found alive

Daily Mail​

10-07-2025

It's been nearly a week since catastrophic floods hit Texas on July 4, killing at least 120 people and leaving another 160 missing. There are 2,100 first responders on the ground desperately working to find victims, according to the Kerrville police chief, in a search area at least four times the size of Manhattan. Bodies are being found every day, with the last living victim discovered on Friday—the same day the flood struck.
Despite that grim toll, one firefighter who has been searching for people himself believes there is still hope for a miracle. 'There could still be a survivor in there,' Razor Dobbs, a volunteer firefighter in Center Point, told DailyMail.com Thursday. 'We're still in rescue mode, and we're not quitting until we find everybody.'
Dobbs, 54, has been a first responder in Center Point, a small community outside Kerrville, for four years. He's been attending daily briefings at the Office of Emergency Management and said the search has moved in phases — almost like layers — with teams first clearing surface areas and now returning to dig deeper.
'The easy people to find have been found,' he said. 'Right up the road, there's a debris field that's 50 feet, 60 feet high and 100 yards long, thick… full of RV parts, which we already found four victims toward the top.' Now, makeshift roads are being built to give heavy machinery access to the Guadalupe River so crews can move massive trees and debris piles safely.
'Now, there are multiple excavators and teams, meticulously going through, because it's compacted. You can't get rescue dogs through,' Dobbs explained. He compared the current phase of rescue in Hill Country to the days after 9/11, when first responders dug carefully through smoldering rubble in search of air pockets and potential survivors.
'There are people who are buried in the riverbed. It takes time. You can't just go ripping in here and start tearing stuff up,' he said. 'The debris field I was telling you about has to be cautiously pulled through. You don't want to damage it. There could still be a survivor in there.'
Dobbs stressed the urgency of the mission. 'You have 161 confirmed missing. We have a lot of work to do. It's vital that we find these people. These families want their people home, and we want them home.' He also emphasized that many people watching the news don't realize how far the floodwaters actually spread.
A 'rain bomb' over the Hunt area caused the river to rise 26 feet in just 45 minutes, according to state officials. 'These floodwaters went way out—way out into big fields with high crops,' Dobbs said. 'Very easily, there could be someone laying somewhere. It happens. People have car accidents, run off roads, and nobody finds them for days. That's the attitude. This is not just a recovery. It's a search and rescue.'
In the latest press conference on Thursday morning, officials confirmed 96 deaths in Kerr County, including at Camp Mystic. Of those, 60 were adults and 36 were children. Neighboring Kendall County, which lies downstream, has recovered eight bodies. Local officials noted those victims are not residents of Kendall County—meaning their bodies floated downriver from Kerr County. At least 161 people remain missing, including five young girls and one camp counselor from Camp Mystic.