Williamson County officials give a flooding update, cleanup assistance hotline setup
With more than 120 lives lost, including children, and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, the community faces an uphill battle to recover. This tragedy has also sparked significant conversations about disaster preparedness and the availability of federal aid for affected communities.
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Woman swept away in flood
The 64-year-old Sherry Richardson dialled 911 around 3.30 am Saturday to seek help as water started coming into her home in Liberty Hill. While she was still on the phone with a dispatcher, the water began creeping up the stairs of the cabin where she lived so she retreated to the second floor, said her daughter Deliah Greenslet, according to Autsin-American Statesman.
The dispatcher lost contact with Richardson about 15 minutes after the call began, said Greenslet.
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"There was 30 feet of water in her house," said Greenslet.
She said he later found out that the whole cabin was swept away with her mother inside of it into a creek that fed into the San Gabriel River. Searchers on Sunday found Richardson's body and the remains of her beloved Yorkie, Omie Mae, about a mile from where her house originally stood, Greenslet said. "I am heartbroken," said Greenslet.
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"Mom was my best friend and confidante and the rock for our family, and I will really miss her," she said. "She loved music, she loved the Beatles and she had a tattoo of some of the Beatles lyrics on her."
She said she was never alerted about the potential flooding in the area but if she had known she would have asked her mother to spend the night with her. She said she knows there have been budget cuts at the National Weather Service and feels like its being dismantled.
"What can we do as a nation, as a country to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future?" she said. "Why don't we have warning systems that are better than phones saying there's a flash flood warning?"
As of Wednesday, July 9, Williamson County has confirmed a total of three deaths, according to Fox7 Austin. There were 54 structures that were destroyed or severely damaged by floodwaters. The focus is now on documenting residential damage. Debris removal sites and dumpsters are being set up around Liberty Hill.
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The county has set up a cleanup assistance hotline at 512-201-4814. County Judge Steven Snell and EMA Director Bruce Clements said the search is going on in Leander and urged those coming to help with the clean-up to work with recognized organizations.
"If you want to volunteer, please don't freelance and go out on your own. It can be dangerous out there, so please be part of an organized effort that's already underway. There are trusted folks who are there to organize and give you safety gear, people like the
Austin Disaster Relief Network
at avrn.org, and there are others as well. But find an organized effort and don't go out on your own, because that can really be rather dangerous," said Clements.
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