Latest news with #TexasSearchandRescue
CBS News
7 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.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Verizon donates $100,000 to support Texas Search and Rescue and waives call/text/data usage for hardest hit customers
What you need to know: In response to the flash floods on July 4, Verizon is donating $100,000 to Texas Search and Rescue (TEXSAR) to aid their vital search, rescue, and recovery operations. Verizon is waiving domestic call/text/data usage incurred July 7 - Aug 3 for consumer prepaid, postpaid, and small business customers* in 95 zip codes across 28 affected Central Texas counties. The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team has provided low-earth orbit satellite devices to aid the Texas Department of Public Safety's drone search and recovery operations. IRVING, Texas, July 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to the devastating Central Texas floods, Verizon is supporting its customers and local communities by donating $100,000 to Texas Search and Rescue, a first responder organization that deploys professionally trained volunteers throughout the state of Texas to support its crucial search, rescue, and recovery operations. In addition to the donation, Verizon is waiving domestic call/text/data usage from July 7 to August 3 for all consumers (prepaid and postpaid), small business accounts*, and Verizon Prepaid users on metered plans across 95 zip codes in 28 affected Central Texas counties. This includes customers of Verizon's prepaid brands like Straight Talk, Total Wireless, Walmart Family Mobile, Tracfone, Simple Mobile, Net 10, Page Plus, Safelink, and Go Smart. No action is required from customers in the impacted zip codes to receive this relief offer. Further details on eligible Central Texas counties and zip codes are available at 'Our hearts go out to those impacted by the heartbreaking scale of the Central Texas floods,' said Michelle R. Miller, Senior Vice President at Verizon. 'We are committed to providing the resources and connectivity our neighbors need for safety and recovery. This donation and relief offer are how we can help when it matters most.' 'Verizon's generous donation is an incredible boost to our efforts as we continue to support local authorities through search, rescue, and recovery operations in Central Texas,' said Justin McInnis, President and CEO of TEXSAR. 'Their support directly enables our volunteer first responders to provide assistance to those impacted by these catastrophic floods, ensuring we have the resources needed to continue our ongoing search efforts.' Despite the extensive devastation across the region, Verizon's network remains operational. Its teams are actively monitoring the situation to prioritize life, safety and connectivity. Verizon is also in contact with local public safety and emergency management teams to coordinate any communication needs or support. This includes providing low-earth orbit satellite devices to aid the Texas Department of Public Safety's drone search and recovery operations. Beyond aiding search and recovery, satellites play a crucial role in making connectivity more reliable for customers. With select Android and iOS devices, customers can access satellite messaging and emergency SOS features, including location detection, in some areas without traditional cellular coverage. To learn more about satellite messaging: Find the latest updates at the Verizon Emergency Resource Center: *Verizon small business customers include customers with 50 lines or less. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) powers and empowers how its millions of customers live, work and play, delivering on their demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity and security. Headquartered in New York City, serving countries worldwide and nearly all of the Fortune 500, Verizon generated revenues of $134.8 billion in 2024. Verizon's world-class team never stops innovating to meet customers where they are today and equip them for the needs of tomorrow. For more, visit or find a retail location at VERIZON'S ONLINE MEDIA CENTER: News releases, stories, media contacts and other resources are available at News releases are also available through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit Media contacts: Jeannine Brew Ashley
New York Post
08-07-2025
- 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.
