Latest news with #UnitedCajunNavy
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Tropical downpours soak Texas as heavy rain is expected across Lone Star State
More rain is in the forecast for the Texas Hill Country, where deadly floods swept through the area in early July. FOX Weather Correspondent Katie Byrne spoke with Kevin LaFond, regional commander with the United Cajun Navy, about the latest updates on cleanup and recovery efforts. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
United Cajun Navy commander fights to find Texas flood victims in his own backyard
A week after catastrophic flooding claimed at least 121 lives in Texas Hill Country, search efforts continue with volunteers working tirelessly to find victims and bring closure to families. The United Cajun Navy, a volunteer organization that's been coordinating disaster response since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, remains on the ground in Kerr County, where at least 96 people, including 36 children, lost their lives after the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in less than an hour early on July 4. "At the beginning, it was mostly ground crews on foot, checking everything we could visually see," Ryan Logue, the Texas incident commander for the United Cajun Navy, told ABC News on Friday. "Now we've got canine crews, search and rescue, and swim teams deployed." However, the recovery effort faces mounting challenges. As days pass, conditions on the ground are becoming more difficult. Logue explained that mud and silt washed down by the floodwaters are now "becoming almost like concrete" as they dry, making it harder for search teams to dig through debris. MORE: Texas flooding live updates For Logue, this mission hits close to home. As a Kerrville local, he's not just leading the search effort -- he's helping rebuild his own community. "This is my backyard. The place on the river that I'm at right now is where I take my daughter swimming," Logue said. "I'm not going anywhere until we find every last victim and provide closure to this community." The dual role of helper and community member fuels Logue's determination, he noted. "The fire inside of me to help my community burns so strong," he said, recounting how locals have embraced him with hugs and gratitude when they spot him wearing his United Cajun Navy shirt. With President Donald Trump visiting the devastated region with First Lady Melania Trump on Friday, questions continue to mount about the local and federal response to the disaster. Despite this, the focus remains clear for volunteers like Logue: bringing closure to families still waiting for news of their loved ones. "This isn't just a disaster you're deployed to," Logue said. "You have to process what's going on because this is my backyard. But I know I have to put on my game face and make sure we're doing everything we can to find anybody who was impacted by this."
11-07-2025
- General
United Cajun Navy commander fights to find Texas flood victims in his own backyard
A week after catastrophic flooding claimed at least 121 lives in Texas Hill Country, search efforts continue with volunteers working tirelessly to find victims and bring closure to families. The United Cajun Navy, a volunteer organization that's been coordinating disaster response since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, remains on the ground in Kerr County, where at least 96 people, including 36 children, lost their lives after the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in less than an hour early on July 4. "At the beginning, it was mostly ground crews on foot, checking everything we could visually see," Ryan Logue, the Texas incident commander for the United Cajun Navy, told ABC News on Friday. "Now we've got canine crews, search and rescue, and swim teams deployed." However, the recovery effort faces mounting challenges. As days pass, conditions on the ground are becoming more difficult. Logue explained that mud and silt washed down by the floodwaters are now "becoming almost like concrete" as they dry, making it harder for search teams to dig through debris. For Logue, this mission hits close to home. As a Kerrville local, he's not just leading the search effort -- he's helping rebuild his own community. "This is my backyard. The place on the river that I'm at right now is where I take my daughter swimming," Logue said. "I'm not going anywhere until we find every last victim and provide closure to this community." The dual role of helper and community member fuels Logue's determination, he noted. "The fire inside of me to help my community burns so strong," he said, recounting how locals have embraced him with hugs and gratitude when they spot him wearing his United Cajun Navy shirt. With President Donald Trump visiting the devastated region with First Lady Melania Trump on Friday, questions continue to mount about the local and federal response to the disaster. Despite this, the focus remains clear for volunteers like Logue: bringing closure to families still waiting for news of their loved ones. "This isn't just a disaster you're deployed to," Logue said. "You have to process what's going on because this is my backyard. But I know I have to put on my game face and make sure we're doing everything we can to find anybody who was impacted by this."
New York Post
11-07-2025
- General
- New York Post
Search-and-rescue volunteers had to rely on sense of smell to find bodies in Texas flood debris, one reveals
Volunteers combing through debris piles from the devastating Central Texas flooding had to sniff out decaying bodies in the 'chaotic' initial days of the search-and-rescue efforts. Ryan Logue, a resident of Kerrville, Texas, jumped to volunteer with the United Cajun Navy, a search-and-rescue nonprofit, as the floodwaters consumed the communities around him. He said the first days of the efforts were challenging as volunteers tried to sift through miles of heavy debris in the Guadalupe River for the missing without the help of cadaver dogs. 'You'd be on a 100-yard stretch of the river out in the middle of it, and there would be 2,500 piles within a hundred yards of it'd be one cedar tree covered in debris. You can walk by and visually inspect it, but you couldn't get eyes inside of the pile,' Logue recalled. 'You'd have to base it off possibly smelling decomposition if there is a corpse, if there's a cadaver in there or you just have to wait till it does start heating up and you do get that more of the cadaver dogs in there, but those first couple of days it was so chaotic and nobody knew what was going on,' he added. At least 120 people have been confirmed dead after the flash floods hit the region, according to local law enforcement and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Another 173 people are unaccounted for. 3 Kerville, Texas, resident Ryan Logue conducts search-and-rescue efforts after devastating floods swept through his community. CNN 3 A search dog helps people find bodies swept up in the flood in Hunt, Texas. AP Logue contacted the United Cajun Navy as the floodwaters took hold of his community and began recruiting a team of volunteers to search for the missing in his own backyard. 'It's gonna be victims that we're finding. It gets overwhelming thinking about all of it,' a tearful Logue told CNN. 'I care about these people so much that I will figure out whatever I have to do for their families to get closure,' he added. 3 Aerial view of flood damage in Ingram, Texas. AP The Kerrville resident said the effort has taken its toll as he's found dozens of personal belongings from the little girls who attended Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River where 27 children and staff members died in the flooding. As a father of a 7-year-old girl, Logue has found it difficult to separate himself from the tragedy. 'When you find people's personal items, they've got names in them. I found a young girl's Bible, it had her handwriting in there with all of her favorite scripture … and that takes as much of a toll on you over time as finding a body does because those are the same memories the body holds.' The Guadalupe River rose over 26 feet in under an hour, slightly outdoing the 1987 floods that swept through the Texas hill country. And search-and-rescue teams have only scratched the surface of the destruction, according to Logue. 'There's no way to tell how long this is going to take … It's a 100-mile strip of the Guadalupe. Some places it's 75 yards wide, some places it's a mile wide of destruction.'
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Yahoo
Texas neighbors, United Cajun Navy deliver truckload of flood relief supplies to Liberty Hill
LIBERTY HILL, Texas (KXAN) — Outside Operation Liberty Hill, the doors to a semi trailer flew open to the sound of cheers from dozens of volunteers. The haul was three-pallets tall, and carried from Kemah, Texas by members of the United Cajun Navy, a nonprofit relief group well-versed in flood recovery. The haul was collected by members of the Kemah Police Department on the Texas Gulf Coast, roughly four hours from Williamson County, and trucked in by the United Cajun Navy, a nonprofit disaster relief organization founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Flash flooding claimed more than 100 lives in Central Texas. Here's what we know about the victims Operation Liberty Hill will distribute the supplies to anyone in need of everyday essentials, or other services like housing, and counseling assistance. Executive Director Susan Baker said it was heartwarming to see neighbors near and far come together to help flood victims. 'That's the most important part of today is letting people know this is a place they can come from help. There is hope,' Baker said. Detective Alonso Soza said his department started collecting donations Monday morning, but by that afternoon needed a second container to hold the overwhelming number of donations. Baker said Operation Liberty Hill is open to any and all flood victims that need supplies. The organization is also collecting donations for flood recovery through it's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
