Latest news with #JonathanMcComb
USA Today
a day ago
- General
- USA Today
A flood killed his entire family in 2015. Now he has joined the search in Texas.
Jonathan McComb was the sole family member to survive similar floods in 2015. Since then, he has found a calling searching for others after deadly natural disasters. KERRVILLE, Texas – For nearly a week, Jonathan McComb has climbed into inflatable Zodiac rafts or hiked along the flood-scarred banks of the Guadalupe River, poking through brambles and uprooted trees, looking for victims. He works from sunrise to sundown. It's relentless, tedious, physically demanding work. And, as search and rescue turns to recovery, it can be soul-wrenching. McComb is one of hundreds of volunteers who have descended onto Kerr County in the wake of the deadly Independence Day floods here to help search for victims. But the task carries extra weight for McComb: He was the only one of his family to survive similar floods in 2015 in Wimberley, Texas, 80 miles east of Kerrville. Those floods destroyed about 400 homes and killed 13 people, including McComb's wife and two children. They were swept from his grasp as the house they were in was pushed along the Blanco River and broke apart against a bridge. On the morning of July 7, McComb, 45, gathered with about 20 members of TEXSAR, a search and rescue volunteer group based in Central Texas. On the banks of the Guadalupe – no longer destructive but still brown and swollen – the members discussed river currents and reminded one another to be careful with fallen branches and trees. As of that morning, the missing included at least 10 children attending a nearby Christian camp for girls. Live updates: Texas flooding death toll rises to 90; 10 campers missing Many of the volunteers were lending their expertise in search and rescue to a stricken community. For McComb, it was the fulfillment of a pact he struck with God while clinging to life in the raging Blanco River a decade ago. 'This one hits a little bit more at home,' McComb said in an interview with USA TODAY. 'I can see the hurt and the pain in the families. I know what they're going through and what they're feeling and what they're going to feel.' 'The magnitude of this is in its own category' Volunteers have streamed to Kerr County in the wake of the floods, some pulling skiffs on trailers behind trucks or with canoes strapped to the roofs of their SUVs. Authorities have asked volunteers to connect with a law enforcement agency before helping. TEXSAR alone has deployed 50 volunteers and six swift-water rescue boats, spokesperson Shannon Smith said. Over the years, TEXSAR teams have helped in hundreds of missions, from search and rescue in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in southeast Texas to rescuing lost hikers in the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas. But few have compared to this disaster, Smith said. 'The magnitude of this is in its own category,' she said. At least 100 people have died in flooding across Texas since July 4, authorities say. The worst of the flooding occurred here in Kerr County, but people have died in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties. The toll included at least 27 children and counselors from a beloved all-girls summer camp, the camp said in a statement, as a frantic search for those still missing entered its fourth day. "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy," the private Christian camp, Camp Mystic, said in a statement on its website July 7. "We are praying for them constantly." About 700 children were at the camp when relentless rain caused the nearby Guadalupe River to surge more than 26 feet in less than an hour, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Photos taken at the scene show a building where some of the children slept with broken windows and a blown-out wall. Among the mud-covered debris were pink blankets and stuffed animals. 'I'll tell your story and help others' The images have reawakened painful memories for McComb. On Memorial Day weekend 2015, McComb, his wife, Laura, their son Andrew, 6, and daughter, Leighton, 4, were vacationing at a riverfront home in Wimberley with another family when the floods hit. The raging waters pushed the home off its foundation and sent it rushing down the Blanco River. The home smashed into a bridge and ripped apart, plunging people into the river. McComb witnessed his family swept away by the angry current as they slipped from his grasp, he said. He resigned to go as well and slipped under the waves. But something bumped his head and jolted him awake. He called on God. 'I said, 'All right, I'm going to get out of here, and I'll tell your story and help others,'' McComb remembered. About 11 miles downriver, McComb finally climbed out, scaled a steep cliff and walked to safety. He was the only one of the nine people in the home that night to survive. Leighton's body was never recovered, he said. While recovering in the hospital, he learned that TEXSAR volunteers were looking for his family. He vowed to join the group as soon as he could. Later that year, he did. McComb has assisted in six missions with the group, including other weather events and helping find missing people. He has since remarried and has a 5-year-old daughter, Scarlett. He hugged her a little tighter before heading off to Kerr County. He arrived in Kerrville on the night of July 4 as the Guadalupe still roiled, joining search and rescue teams on Zodiac rafts. It has been a struggle, he said, to stay focused on the search while not letting his feelings distract him. 'It's a tug of war,' McComb said. 'I'm here to help. But knowing we weren't able to recover my daughter 10 years ago ... I know what that feels like. I want to do what I can to help.' He climbed into a pickup with his team and rode off to a stretch of uprooted trees and tangled debris downriver. There were more people to find. How to volunteer Where to donate Aid groups, nonprofits and other organizations are accepting donations to help survivors and assist in the recovery. The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country started the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, which will provide aid to vetted organizations in Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point and other areas. Crowdfunding website GoFundMe has an updated page for verified fundraisers connected to flood victims and their families. Other organizations accepting donations include the World Central Kitchen and The Salvation Army, which is distributing supplies and has set up a mobile kitchen in the disaster area.
CBS News
5 days ago
- General
- CBS News
After his family died in a Texas flood 10 years ago, he vowed to help others. Now, he's keeping his promise.
Texas dad who lost family in 2015 flood joins search to help others today Jonathan McComb knows what it means to lose everything. In 2015, a flash flood swept through Wimberley, Texas, washing away the home where he was staying with his wife, their two young children and several friends. McComb was the sole survivor out of nine people in the home. He turned up 11 miles down the Blanco River, climbed out of a cliff and knocked on someone's door for help. Since then, he has returned to disaster sites across the state with Texas Search and Rescue — including the deadly floods that struck Central Texas over the weekend. But this time, it hit a lot closer to home. "I know that there's folks out there that are hurting, and I know exactly how they're feeling," McComb told CBS News. "And so I want to be able to help them and hopefully give some closure and just be a light to them right now." "This is more about them than it is me," he said. McComb is part of a quiet but crucial network of volunteers searching for the missing, enduring sweltering summer heat and trudging through massive debris piles. Like many searchers, Louis Deppe isn't from the community. He doesn't know the layout, but he knows loyalty. And when his friend Ty Badon's daughter was swept away, he came, driving his mud-caked truck past roadblocks and into the heart of the flood zone every day. Joyce Catherine Badon, 21, was staying in a cabin with three friends when it was swallowed by raging waters on July Fourth. Badon's body has been found, but two of her friends are unaccounted for, so Deppe is still searching. "I don't have a time limit, so however long it takes," Deppe told CBS News. For McComb, the work is also about honoring the people who searched for his own family a decade ago. "When I was in the hospital after my ordeal, and knowing that everybody was out there searching for my family, I knew that I needed to give back," McComb said. In the 2015 flood, his 4-year-old daughter was never found — a fact that still drives him today. "It's pretty important. I know what it feels like, and so I want to do everything I can to bring that closure to them. Not that we can promise that, but we're going to give every effort we can and keep going," McComb said. McComb has since remarried and has a 5-year-old daughter who knows his story. Before leaving for this latest search, he explained to her why he needed to go. "That was a tough, tough hug when I left her on July 4 to come out here to help," McComb said. "And she understood." contributed to this report.
New York Post
5 days ago
- General
- New York Post
Texan who lost entire family in 2015 flood now helping latest search for victims: ‘This one hits home'
A widower who lost his wife and two children in a Texas flood 10 years ago has joined the harrowing search for those still missing in the latest disaster that has killed more than 100 people. Jonathan McComb, 45, lost his wife, Laura, and their two children — son Andrew, 6, and daughter Leighton, 4 — when a vacation home they were staying in for Memorial Day weekend in 2015 was swept into the raging Blanco River in a flood that killed 13 people. He arrived Friday in Kerrville — about 80 miles from where he lost his own family — as one of hundreds of Texas Search and Rescue [TEXSAR] volunteers scouring for current victims near the Guadalupe River, just as the group had searched for his 10 years earlier. 4 Jonathan McComb, who lost his wife and two children in a 2015 flood, helped search for victims in Kerr County this weekend. Rick Jervis / USA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'This one hits a little bit more at home,' McComb told USA TODAY while helping in the area where more than a hundred are confirmed dead and many others remain missing. 'I can see the hurt and the pain in the families. I know what they're going through and what they're feeling and what they're going to feel,' he said of overwhelmed relatives there. McComb arrived hours after flash floods caused the Guadalupe River to rise more than 26 feet in less than an hour early Friday morning, devastating the region. The dead include at least 27 campers and counselors from all-girls Christian summer camp Camp Mystic Hunt, where 10 girls remain missing. 4 McComb lost his wife Laura, son Andrew and daughter Leighton when their vacation home fell into the Blanco River. Courtesy Heather Marks McComb had been the only survivor out of nine people staying in a vacation home in Wimberley in 2015 when floods destroyed more than 400 homes. The home they were in crumbled when it smashed into a bridge, sending the family into the waters — with the dad only able to watch helplessly as his wife and kids were swept to their deaths. His daughter's body was never found. Giving up hope, McComb had allowed himself to be taken away by the current, before he came to after bumping his head some 11 miles downriver, he said. 4 McComb, 45, gathered with about 20 members of TEXSAR, to search the banks of the Guadalupe River. TEXSAR 4 A raging Guadalupe River leaves fallen trees and debris in its wake after Friday's devastating flash floods. AP He described this weekend's emotional toll as an internal 'tug of war' — but knows the effort is worth it. 'I'm here to help. But knowing we weren't able to recover my daughter 10 years ago and I know what that feels like. I want to do what I can to help,' he told USA Today. McComb — who has since remarried and has a 5-year-old daughter, Scarlett — joined TEXSAR at the end of 2015 after learning how volunteers searched for his own family. He has since been on six search operations with the group.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
A flood killed his entire family in 2015. Now, he's joined search efforts in Texas.
KERRVILLE, Texas – For the past four days, Jonathan McComb has climbed into inflatable Zodiac rafts or hiked along the flood-scarred banks of the Guadalupe River, poking through brambles and uprooted trees, looking for victims. He works from sunrise to sundown. It's relentless, tedious, physically demanding work. And, as search-and-rescue turns to recovery, occasionally soul-wrenching as well. McComb is one of hundreds of volunteers who have descended onto Kerr County in the wake of the deadly Independence Day floods here to help search for victims. But the task carries extra weight for McComb: He was the sole family member to survive similar floods in 2015 in Wimberley, Texas, 80 miles east of Kerrville. Those floods destroyed some 400 homes and killed 13 people, including McComb's wife and two children. They were swept from his grasp as the house they were in was pushed along the Blanco River and broke apart against a bridge. On the morning of July 7, McComb, 45, gathered with about 20 members of TEXSAR, a search-and-rescue volunteer group based in Central Texas. On the banks of the Guadalupe – no longer destructive but still brown and swollen – the members discussed river currents and reminded one another to be careful with fallen branches and trees. As of that morning, the missing included at least 10 children attending a nearby Christian camp for girls. Live updates: Texas flooding death toll rises to 90; 10 campers missing Many of the volunteers were lending their expertise in search and rescue to a stricken community. For McComb, it was the fulfillment of a pact he struck with God while clinging to life in the raging Blanco River a decade ago. 'This one hits a little bit more at home,' McComb said in an interview with USA TODAY. 'I can see the hurt and the pain in the families. I know what they're going through and what they're feeling and what they're going to feel.' Volunteers have streamed to Kerr County in the wake of the floods, some pulling skiffs on trailers behind trucks or with canoes strapped to the roofs of their SUVs. Authorities have asked volunteers to connect with a law enforcement agency before helping. TEXSAR alone has deployed 50 volunteers and six swift water rescue boats to the effort, spokesperson Shannon Smith said. Over the years, TEXSAR teams have helped in hundreds of missions, from search and rescue in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in southeast Texas to rescuing lost hikers in the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas. But few have compared to this disaster, Smith said. 'The magnitude of this is in its own category,' she said. At least 90 people have died in flooding across Texas since July 4, officials said. The worst of the flooding occurred here in Kerr County, but fatalities have also been recorded in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties. The death toll included at least 27 children and counselors from a beloved all-girls summer camp, the camp said in a statement, as a frantic search for those still missing entered its fourth day. "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy," the private Christian camp, Camp Mystic, said in a July 7 statement on its website. "We are praying for them constantly." There were about 700 children at the camp when relentless rain caused the nearby Guadalupe River to surge over 26 feet in less than an hour, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Photos taken at the scene show a building where some of the children slept with broken windows and a blown-out wall. Among the mud-covered debris were pink blankets and stuffed animals. The images have reawakened painful memories for McComb. On Memorial Day weekend 2015, McComb, his wife, Laura, their son Andrew, 6, and daughter Leighton, 4, were vacationing at a riverfront home in Wimberley with another family when the floods hit, pushing the home off its foundation and sending it rushing down the Blanco River. The home smashed into a bridge and began ripping apart, sending family members into the raging river. McComb witnessed his family swept away by the angry current, as they slipped from his grasp, he said. He resigned to go as well and slipped under the waves. But something bumped his head, startling him awake. He called on God. 'I said, 'All right, I'm going to get out of here and I'll tell your story and help others,'' McComb remembered. Around 11 miles downriver, McComb finally climbed out, scaled a steep cliff and walked to safety. He was the only one of the nine people in the home that night to survive. Leighton's body was never recovered, he said. While recovering in the hospital, he learned that TEXSAR volunteers were looking for his family. He vowed to join the group as soon as he could. Later that year, he did. McComb has assisted in six missions with the group, including other weather events and helping to find missing persons. He has since remarried and now has a 5-year-old daughter, Scarlett. He hugged her a little tighter before heading off to Kerr County. He arrived in Kerrville on the night of July 4, as the Guadalupe still roiled, joining search-and-rescue teams on Zodiac rafts. It's been a struggle, he said, to stay focused on the search while not letting familiar feelings distract him. 'It's a tug of war,' McComb said. 'I'm here to help. But knowing we weren't able to recover my daughter 10 years ago and I know what that feels like. I want to do what I can to help.' He climbed into a pickup truck with his team and rode off to a stretch of uprooted trees and tangled debris downriver. There were more victims to find. At a news conference, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice asked that volunteers contact the Salvation Army Kerrville at 830-465-4797, or in-person at 855 Hays St. in Kerrville. He also asked that private drone operators desist from flying in the disaster area. A variety of aid groups, nonprofits and other organizations are accepting donations to help victims and assist in the recovery effort. The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country started a Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, which will provide aid to vetted organizations in Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point and other areas. Crowdfunding website GoFundMe has an updated page for verified fundraisers connected to flood victims and their families. Other organizations accepting donations include World Central Kitchen and the Salvation Army, which is distributing supplies and has set up a mobile kitchen in the disaster area. Reach Jervis at: rjervis@ or follow him on X: @MrRJervis. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas flood search becomes calling for man who lost family in 2015
USA Today
6 days ago
- General
- USA Today
A flood killed his entire family in 2015. Now, he's joined search efforts in Texas.
Jonathan McComb was the sole family member to survive similar floods in 2015. Since then, he has found a calling searching for others after deadly natural disasters. KERRVILLE, Texas – For the past four days, Jonathan McComb has climbed into inflatable Zodiac rafts or hiked along the flood-scarred banks of the Guadalupe River, poking through brambles and uprooted trees, looking for victims. He works from sunrise to sundown. It's relentless, tedious, physically demanding work. And, as search-and-rescue turns to recovery, occasionally soul-wrenching as well. McComb is one of hundreds of volunteers who have descended onto Kerr County in the wake of the deadly Independence Day floods here to help search for victims. But the task carries extra weight for McComb: He was the sole family member to survive similar floods in 2015 in Wimberley, Texas, 80 miles east of Kerrville. Those floods destroyed some 400 homes and killed 13 people, including McComb's wife and two children. They were swept from his grasp as the house they were in was pushed along the Blanco River and broke apart against a bridge. On the morning of July 7, McComb, 45, gathered with about 20 members of TEXSAR, a search-and-rescue volunteer group based in Central Texas. On the banks of the Guadalupe – no longer destructive but still brown and swollen – the members discussed river currents and reminded one another to be careful with fallen branches and trees. As of that morning, the missing included at least 10 children attending a nearby Christian camp for girls. Live updates: Texas flooding death toll rises to 90; 10 campers missing Many of the volunteers were lending their expertise in search and rescue to a stricken community. For McComb, it was the fulfillment of a pact he struck with God while clinging to life in the raging Blanco River a decade ago. 'This one hits a little bit more at home,' McComb said in an interview with USA TODAY. 'I can see the hurt and the pain in the families. I know what they're going through and what they're feeling and what they're going to feel.' 'The magnitude of this is in its own category' Volunteers have streamed to Kerr County in the wake of the floods, some pulling skiffs on trailers behind trucks or with canoes strapped to the roofs of their SUVs. Authorities have asked volunteers to connect with a law enforcement agency before helping. TEXSAR alone has deployed 50 volunteers and six swift water rescue boats to the effort, spokesperson Shannon Smith said. Over the years, TEXSAR teams have helped in hundreds of missions, from search and rescue in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in southeast Texas to rescuing lost hikers in the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas. But few have compared to this disaster, Smith said. 'The magnitude of this is in its own category,' she said. At least 90 people have died in flooding across Texas since July 4, officials said. The worst of the flooding occurred here in Kerr County, but fatalities have also been recorded in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties. The death toll included at least 27 children and counselors from a beloved all-girls summer camp, the camp said in a statement, as a frantic search for those still missing entered its fourth day. "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy," the private Christian camp, Camp Mystic, said in a July 7 statement on its website. "We are praying for them constantly." There were about 700 children at the camp when relentless rain caused the nearby Guadalupe River to surge over 26 feet in less than an hour, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Photos taken at the scene show a building where some of the children slept with broken windows and a blown-out wall. Among the mud-covered debris were pink blankets and stuffed animals. 'I'll tell your story and help others' The images have reawakened painful memories for McComb. On Memorial Day weekend 2015, McComb, his wife, Laura, their son Andrew, 6, and daughter Leighton, 4, were vacationing at a riverfront home in Wimberley with another family when the floods hit, pushing the home off its foundation and sending it rushing down the Blanco River. The home smashed into a bridge and began ripping apart, sending family members into the raging river. McComb witnessed his family swept away by the angry current, as they slipped from his grasp, he said. He resigned to go as well and slipped under the waves. But something bumped his head, startling him awake. He called on God. 'I said, 'All right, I'm going to get out of here and I'll tell your story and help others,'' McComb remembered. Around 11 miles downriver, McComb finally climbed out, scaled a steep cliff and walked to safety. He was the only one of the nine people in the home that night to survive. Leighton's body was never recovered, he said. While recovering in the hospital, he learned that TEXSAR volunteers were looking for his family. He vowed to join the group as soon as he could. Later that year, he did. McComb has assisted in six missions with the group, including other weather events and helping to find missing persons. He has since remarried and now has a 5-year-old daughter, Scarlett. He hugged her a little tighter before heading off to Kerr County. He arrived in Kerrville on the night of July 4, as the Guadalupe still roiled, joining search-and-rescue teams on Zodiac rafts. It's been a struggle, he said, to stay focused on the search while not letting familiar feelings distract him. 'It's a tug of war,' McComb said. 'I'm here to help. But knowing we weren't able to recover my daughter 10 years ago and I know what that feels like. I want to do what I can to help.' He climbed into a pickup truck with his team and rode off to a stretch of uprooted trees and tangled debris downriver. There were more victims to find. How to volunteer At a news conference, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice asked that volunteers contact the Salvation Army Kerrville at 830-465-4797, or in-person at 855 Hays St. in Kerrville. He also asked that private drone operators desist from flying in the disaster area. Where to donate A variety of aid groups, nonprofits and other organizations are accepting donations to help victims and assist in the recovery effort. The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country started a Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, which will provide aid to vetted organizations in Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point and other areas. Crowdfunding website GoFundMe has an updated page for verified fundraisers connected to flood victims and their families. Other organizations accepting donations include World Central Kitchen and the Salvation Army, which is distributing supplies and has set up a mobile kitchen in the disaster area. Reach Jervis at: rjervis@ or follow him on X: @MrRJervis.
