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New York Times
a day ago
- General
- New York Times
Live Updates: More Flooding Looms in Texas as Searchers Scramble to Find Missing
Joe Chavarria searched through rubble at a campsite near where five of his family members disappeared when the Guadalupe River flooded in Texas. Hailey Chavarria sat Sunday outside a church providing shelter for survivors of the Fourth of July flash flood, and for families like hers who had rushed to Kerrville, Texas, hoping and praying for loved ones they had lost touch with. For Ms. Chavarria, 28, a teacher from Austin, the wait has been agonizing. Five members of her family from Midland, Texas — her mother, her mother's husband, an aunt, the aunt's husband and a cousin — remained missing three days after a torrent of water smashed through their campsite along the Guadalupe River, where they had gathered for what was supposed to be a festive holiday camping trip. Image Hailey Chavarria's aunt Tasha Ramos and Ms. Ramos's husband, Joel Ramos, are among the missing. Credit... via Hailey Chavarria Image Ms. Chavarria's cousin Kyndall Ramos is missing, too. Credit... via Hailey Chavarria Only one family member, a 22-year-old cousin, Devyn Smith, was found alive, desperately clinging to a tree. Her rescue was captured on video, a moment for celebration in days with few of them. She had been dragged downriver more than 15 miles, through three dams, past broken R.V.s and refrigerators, from 4 a.m. to about 10 a.m. on Friday. Ms. Smith remains hospitalized, Ms. Chavarria said, with staples in her head and 'every inch of her body' scratched and battered. As for the others, 'I'm just hoping that they are somewhere,' Ms. Chavarria said, 'and even if it's the worst-case scenario, it's just something identified and found.' 'If I dig too deep or consider the worst outcome, I'll probably lose my mind,' she added, staring at an uneaten sandwich. Her family had settled in for the night Thursday, she said, snug in tents erected along the river. The flood that arrived before dawn hours later swamped their tents. They rushed to their vehicles to flee, but the merciless current caught up with them. One Chavarria family truck was found empty and mangled against a tree. Image Cody Crossland's truck was found overturned near the campground where the family disappeared during the flood. Credit... Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times By Sunday, about a dozen relatives, including Ms. Chavarria's father, Joe Chavarria, had arrived in Kerr County, armed with chain saws and axes to cut through the tangle of trees and jetsam in the last place their family members were seen. On Sunday afternoon, the family gathered outside Calvary Temple Church, where Ms. Chavarria tried her best to keep her older sister, Celeste Helms, 34, from falling apart. 'We have been going from center to center, and no one can give us an answer,' Ms. Chavarria said. 'I'm not blaming any of the people who work at these centers, because you can tell they want to help so bad, right? I think it's just more of like, they weren't, as a city or county, weren't prepared for something like this.' 'All I can do is stare at my phone,' she added. They are holding to hope, though. 'My mom, she is a beast of a woman,' Ms. Helms said. 'I just know she's hanging out somewhere. She's too strong.' Devyn Smith, the survivor, relayed to Ms. Chavarria the harrowing story. When they went to bed Thursday night, it had begun to drizzle. Around 4 a.m. Friday, the campers were awakened by the rain, Ms. Smith told Ms. Chavarria. They knew their lives were in danger. They had already tried to bolt for safety when their phones blared a flash flood alert. Ms. Chavarria's mother, aunt and stepfather and a cousin climbed into their pickup as the waters raged. Some of them tried to warn a second group that had climbed into a smaller car on lower ground. 'Get out of the car!' they yelled, according to Ms. Smith. That group climbed out through a sunroof as the flood surrounded their small vehicle. Then they were not heard of again. Rescuers found the gray truck hours later tilted to its side and smashed into a broken tree. Ms. Chavarria described her mother, Michelle Crossland, who recently celebrated her 50th birthday with a big bash, as a 'wild lady,' and her husband of 17 years, Cody Crossland, in his mid-40s, as a rugged man who played in a band and was attending barber school. She said Mr. Crossland would have tried everything he could to stay alive. Image Ms. Chavarria's mother, Michelle Crossland, and Ms. Crossland's husband, Cody Crossland, are also missing. Credit... via Hailey Chavarria 'All the survival instincts would kick in for him, and he would ground her, because I know she would have been so freaked out,' Ms. Chavarria said. The group often traveled together, visiting Las Vegas a few times a year, but this was the first time Ms. Chavarria knew of them camping in the Kerrville area. Ms. Chavarria's sister, Ms. Helms, said her 12-year-old had initially planned to join the family. 'Thank God he ended up not going. I can't even imagine,' she said. The family members said that the search had sometimes been a frustrating exercise. There was no point person updating families on the identities of those found, alive or deceased. Ms. Chavarria has resorted to calling funeral homes. Image Ms. Chavarria, right, and her sister Celeste Helms have been waiting for updates at a shelter in Kerrville, Texas. Credit... Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times 'Can you just tell me if my loved one is in there? That's all I want to know. Even if they're deceased,' she said she has pleaded in call after call. Another relative, Eric Sanchez, 53, from Midland, stood somberly next to the sisters. 'I came down as soon as I heard they were missing,' Mr. Sanchez said. 'We are just waiting for any news.' The parents of Ms. Smith, the rescued cousin, are still missing. But she is recovering, Ms. Chavarria said. 'I don't know how she survived,' she said, 'if you are a believer, by the grace of God.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Mom, Stepdad and 3 More Relatives Go Missing in Texas Flash Floods: 'I'm Trying to Hold It Together,' Son Says
Xavier Ramirez is awaiting the fate of five family members who went missing in the devastating floods in central Texas late last week The family was camping near the Guadalupe River when it overflowed on the Fourth of July, and only one of his cousins made it out 'I'm the only boy, so I'm trying to hold it together for the rest of the family,' Ramirez saidSix of Xavier Ramirez's family members were near the Guadalupe River when it overflowed in the tragic flooding in Texas last week, he said. Only one has come home. Ramirez's mom, Michelle Crossland, stepdad Cody Crossland, uncle Joel Ramos, aunt Tasha Ramos and cousins Kendall Ramos and Devyn Smith were all at HTR Campgrounds outside of Ingram, Texas, when the flooding began on Friday, July 4, according to NBC News. The family had been visiting the camping site since Ramirez was just a boy, the 23-year-old told the outlet. As of Sunday, July 6, one of Ramirez's cousins, 23-year-old Smith, is the only person on the trip who made it out, as far as he knows. She was found in a tree about 20 miles downriver and is now recovering in a hospital, he told NBC News. Now, like so many others, Ramirez is waiting to learn the fate of the rest of his family. All he knows is how they spent their final moments before the floodwaters rose, thanks to his cousin, NBC reported. According to Smith, the family took some precautions as they knew there was extreme weather coming, according to NBC News. They slept in trucks — his aunt and uncle in one and his mother, stepdad and teen cousin in another — Ramirez told the outlet. 'They didn't think it was safe in a tent,' he said. As the river flooded early on Friday, his aunt woke up first and the family then rushed to climb through the truck sunroofs, he told NBC News. His mom, stepdad and Smith reached higher ground with plans to find help. "They lost my uncle first,' Ramirez told NBC News. 'He had tried to keep them all together,' he recalled, but 'couldn't hold on.' On Saturday, July 5, a search led to traces of the camping trip, but not the campers. Ramirez told NBC News that one of the trucks was located in Ingram 'against a tree, crushed and flipped, not far from the campground.' With five of his family members still missing, Ramirez is getting by 'minute to minute, second to second,' he said. That, and he's trying to stay strong for the sake of others. 'I'm the only boy, so I'm trying to hold it together for the rest of the family,' he told NBC News. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. As of Sunday, July 6, more than 50 people, including 28 adults and 15 children, have been killed amid the flash floods, according to NBC News, CNN and The Washington Post. The death toll has steadily risen since Friday and many people are still unaccounted for, including multiple young girls from Camp Mystic, located near the Guadalupe River. Much of the flooding has taken place along the river — which runs from Kerr County to the San Antonio Bay — according to CNN. The region experienced "more than an entire summer's worth of rain" in a matter of hours, the outlet reported. According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the river climbed to 34.76 feet at around noon local time on July 4. The NOAA described the flooding as "disastrous" and "life threatening," noting that it spread "over a mile across in some areas, flooding many homes,' including "some to the roof." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Man tries to 'hold it together' with 5 family members missing amid Texas flooding
KERRVILLE, Texas — In the sticky Texas heat with night approaching, Xavier Ramirez waited outside Calvary Temple Church hoping for a miracle — that somehow his mom, stepfather, aunt, uncle and cousin weren't swallowed by Texas' bloated Guadalupe River. Ramirez, 23, from Midland, was at the church in Kerrville with weariness in his eyes. He was getting by 'minute to minute, second to second,' he said. One of his cousins, Devyn Smith, who had been at HTR Campgrounds outside Ingram when the Guadalupe River burst from its banks, had been found late Friday and was recovering at Peterson Regional Center, he said. Smith, 23, was found about 20 miles downriver outside Center Point in a tree, Ramirez said. But she was one of six who'd been at the campground outside Ingram in Kerr County. Ramirez said he still was awaiting word of his aunt, Tasha Ramos; another cousin, Kendall Ramos; his stepfather, Cody Crossland; his mother, Michelle Crossland; and his uncle Joel Ramos. The campground had been a destination spot for years, where the family had gone to enjoy the river since he was a small boy, Ramirez said. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, rapidly emerging thunderstorms in the Texas Hill Country produced near 100-year flooding. The Guadalupe River marked 23.4 feet on a flood stage chart, above 'major flooding' indicators, early Friday, according to NOAA. The shocking rise of floodwaters, possibly boosted by a 'flood wave' that rolled along the Guadalupe and could have instantly raised its depth, left vehicles abandoned, mobile homes and businesses totaled and summer camps usually busy with holiday weekend activities wiped of humanity and surrounded by muddy sediment. The devastating flooding has so far claimed the lives of at least 51 people across the state, with dozens more missing, including 27 children who were at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls. Kerr County has been the hardest hit, with officials there reporting at least 43 deaths, including 15 children, as search and rescue efforts continue. Gov. Greg Abbott, who visited Kerrville on Saturday, declared a state of disaster for 20 Texas counties affected by the flooding and proclaimed Sunday will be a day of prayer for victims of the extreme weather event. He said he has also requested federal disaster relief. Ramirez's family had been asleep when the Guadalupe River's waters began to rise in the early morning hours Friday. 'They slept in the truck. They didn't think it was safe in a tent' because they had heard about the storm, Ramires said, relaying what his cousin had told the family. There were two trucks: his mother and father and teenage cousin in one, and his aunt, uncle and Smith in the other. It was his aunt who awoke first. The family members scrambled to get to the top of the trucks, climbing through sun roofs, Ramirez said. 'They lost my uncle first' to the water's heavy current, Ramirez recalled. 'He had tried to keep them all together and couldn't hold on.' His mother, stepfather and Smith had managed to get to higher ground and had planned to go get help. 'We found their truck in Ingram, against a tree, crushed and flipped, not far from the campground,' he said. His mother's purse was inside when the family found the truck Saturday, after a day of searching. 'I'm the only boy, so I'm trying to hold it together for rest of the family,' Ramirez said. This article was originally published on
