Latest news with #LouisDeppe
CBS News
08-07-2025
- CBS News
Man describes search for friend's daughter who was swept away in Texas floods: "Every parent's worst nightmare"
The death toll from the flooding in Texas has surged to at least 108, officials say. Amid the devastation, hundreds have been rescued, and volunteers have joined the search efforts. "We're tired but running off adrenaline, and it's for a good cause in trying to find people and bring some closure to those who may not be alive anymore and so that's kind of where we're at in the search," said Louis Deppe, who joined the search. Deppe got involved after seeing a Facebook post asking for help to find a friend's daughter. "His wife posted and said basically, 'We have an emergency. We need help. We need prayers.' So I immediately called them … and said, 'What's going on?' He said, 'Our daughter's been swept away.'" Search and rescue personnel look for missing people along the Guadalupe River on July 7, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Joshua Lott / The Washington Post via Getty Images Deppe and his 25-year-old son immediately drove over to help, saying he understood the feeling as a parent. "His daughter's missing. I have a 21-year-old daughter. I can't imagine. I think every parent's worst nightmare and so didn't think it through, just muscle memory, let's come help and see what's needed." Deppe explained once he and others met up with his friend, they started searching behind the property. "The house was swept off the hill into the river, so there was a big pile of debris and we started looking there for his daughter and the other three young, you know, people in their 20s to see if we could find anybody." Dividing into teams of two or three people, they covered as much terrain as they could, but did not get into the water. "If you go by a big pile of debris or treetops, one person can't really see it. It's so thick. They're like huge bird nests," Deppe said. "We weren't prepared to get in the water. We stayed out of the water. We stayed safe." Ultimately, they did find the body of his friend's daughter mid-morning on Monday. "She did not survive. It's tragic but in an odd, important way, it brought some closure," Deppe said, adding, "one other of the other four was found, but there's still two missing." Volunteers search for missing people along the banks of the Guadalupe River after recent flooding on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. Rodolfo Gonzalez / AP Camp connection For Deppe, the flooding across Central Texas is personal. He grew up going to summer camp nearby at Camp Longhorn. Camp Mystic, which describes itself as a private Christian summer camp for girls located on the banks of the Guadalupe River, confirmed 27 campers and counselors died in the flood waters. When the flooding slammed the region, officials said about 750 children were at the camp. "I have so much respect for the people, the adults in charge of these little kids," Deppe said. "I mean, many of these camps have been here for 100 years and they saved so many lives. So many lives were saved. Many didn't make it, but more and more were saved." On Monday, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 10 campers and one counselor from the camp were still missing. Officials said in addition to the reported deaths, dozens remain missing. "The spirit of Texas is alive and well and strong and we're going to keep looking until everyone is found," Deppe told "CBS Mornings." A person holds a candle reading "Kerrville strong" during a vigil for the victims of the floods over Fourth of July weekend, at Travis Park, in San Antonio, Texas, on July 7, 2025. The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas rose to more than 100 on July 7, as rescuers continued their grim search for people swept away by torrents of water. Among the dead were at least 27 girls and counselors who were staying at a youth summer camp on a river when disaster struck over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Search for woman who texted 'we're being washed away' in Texas flood
As the raging Guadalupe River burst its banks and wreaked havoc in central Texas, a young woman named Joyce Bandon sent a text message that may have been her last. Triggering one of many frantic search efforts, Bandon pleaded for help from a house along the river, according to Louis Deppe, leader of a group of volunteers trying to help the Bandon family find their daughter. Torrential rains starting the night before the Independence Day holiday caused the river to rise the height of a two-story building in less than hour, flooding parts of Kerr County, including several children's camps, tearing down trees and tossing cars as if they were toys. The death toll as of Sunday afternoon was at least 78, with more casualties expected. Bandon and three friends had gone to a country house to spend the July 4 holiday together. It rained all Thursday night into Friday morning, when disaster struck. "Their house collapsed at about 4 in the morning and they were being washed away. On her cellphone, the last message (her family) got was 'we're being washed away' and the phone went dead," Deppe told AFP. He said the team works in groups of two or three people as they look through the debris and detritus left behind by the deluge. "One of the bodies was 8 to 10 feet in a tree, surrounded up by so much debris. Not one person could see it, so the more eyes, the better," he added. The river is returning to normal now but there is utter destruction everywhere on its banks, like a dead cow hanging from a tree, its head caught between two branches. Nearby a pickup truck lies upside down and around it dozens of dead fish swept out of the water are beginning to rot and stink. Helicopters fly overhead looking for survivors or bodies while rescue teams in boats ride up and down the river and emergency officials comb its banks. Little by little, debris like uprooted trees and ruined cars is being taken away. - Finding bodies - Tina Hambly, 55, the mother of Joyce Bandon's best friend and roommate, walks around with a kayak oar poking at branches and other debris, hoping to find something or someone. "We're doing a seven-mile stretch, and there's seven teams and we're doing a mile apiece, so just kind of dividing and conquering, trying to find any four of them or anyone," Hambly told AFP. "But, you know, we are friends and families and frankly, some strangers have shown up," she added. In the town of Hunt, one of the worst hit areas, a summer gathering for children called Camp Mystic initially reported dozens of those kids missing in the flooding. The figure now stands at 11 plus a counselor. Toys, clothing, towels and other belongings lie strewn around camp cabins full of mud. The volunteers looking for Bandon have found some bodies -- two early on Saturday morning and then another stuck in debris up in a tree. "And they did let me know that she was one of the Camp Mystic girls that went missing," said Justin Morales, 36, part of the search team. "We're happy to give a family closure," he said. "That's why we're out here." mav/sla
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Haunting final text message of missing Texas flood victim, 21, moments before the house she was staying in with friends was washed away at 4am
As the raging Guadalupe River burst its banks and wreaked havoc in central Texas, a young woman named Joyce Badon sent a haunting text message that may have been her last. Triggering one of many frantic search efforts, Badon pleaded for help from a house along the river, according to Louis Deppe, leader of a group of volunteers trying to help the Badon family find their daughter. Torrential rains starting the night before the Independence Day holiday caused the river to rise the height of a two-story building in less than hour, flooding parts of Kerr County, including several children's camps, tearing down trees and tossing cars as if they were toys. The death toll as of Sunday afternoon was at least 78, with more casualties expected. Badon and three friends, Ella Cahill, Reese Manchaca and Aiden Heartfield, had gone to a country house to spend the July 4 holiday together. It rained all Thursday night into Friday morning, when disaster struck. 'Their house collapsed at about 4 in the morning and they were being washed away. On her cellphone, the last message (her family) got was "we're being washed away" and the phone went dead,' Deppe told AFP. He said the team works in groups of two or three people as they look through the debris and detritus left behind by the deluge. 'One of the bodies was 8 to 10 feet in a tree, surrounded up by so much debris. Not one person could see it, so the more eyes, the better,' he added. The river is returning to normal now but there is utter destruction everywhere on its banks, like a dead cow hanging from a tree, its head caught between two branches. Nearby a pickup truck lies upside down and around it dozens of dead fish swept out of the water are beginning to rot and stink. Helicopters fly overhead looking for survivors or bodies while rescue teams in boats ride up and down the river and emergency officials comb its banks. Little by little, debris like uprooted trees and ruined cars is being taken away. Tina Hambly, 55, the mother of Joyce Badon's best friend and roommate, walks around with a kayak oar poking at branches and other debris, hoping to find something or someone. 'We're doing a seven-mile stretch, and there's seven teams and we're doing a mile apiece, so just kind of dividing and conquering, trying to find any four of them or anyone,' Hambly told AFP. 'But, you know, we are friends and families and frankly, some strangers have shown up,' she added. In the town of Hunt, one of the worst hit areas, a summer gathering for children called Camp Mystic initially reported dozens of those kids missing in the flooding. The figure now stands at 11 plus a counselor. Toys, clothing, towels and other belongings lie strewn around camp cabins full of mud. The volunteers looking for Badon have found some bodies - two early on Saturday morning and then another stuck in debris up in a tree. 'And they did let me know that she was one of the Camp Mystic girls that went missing,' said Justin Morales, 36, part of the search team. 'We're happy to give a family closure,' he said. 'That's why we're out here.'
