Devastated parents in Texas are clinging to hope that their missing children will be found alive as authorities insist that the response to horrific flooding is still being treated as a rescue operation.
At least 46 people – including 15 children – have died after the Guadalupe River surged 30 feet above its normal height, devastating children’s summer camps and ripping apart families.
Wrecked father, Ty Badon, spoke with CNN on Saturday explaining his desperation in the hunt for his missing daughter and her friends who have not been seen or heard from since the disastrous rush of water.
‘We pray that all four of them are still alive,’ he said holding back tears. ‘All four are missing. They’re still missing.’
Badon, a resident of Beaumont, added that the last time his daughter and his friends were heard from was around 4 a.m. Friday morning.
‘It’s been four o’clock yesterday morning that we were told that they were on the phone with Aidan’s dad, who they own the house where they were,’ he said, adding that the house ‘is no longer there.’
He said his daughter and her friends frantically hung up, explaining that they needed to help the others who had ‘just been washed away.’
‘Aidan said “Hey I’ve got to go, I’ve got to help Ella and Reese … they just got washed away,” and then a few seconds later the phone just went dead, and that’s all we know,’ he continued explaining to CNN’s Ed Lavandera.
Badon believes his daughter ‘got washed away as well,’ as he clings to hope of an eventual reunion.
‘We presume she got washed away as well. And if you go back to where the house is, it’s not a good sign,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was brutally grilled over the delayed warning alerts Texas residents received before the monster flash flood was about to devastate the state.
Noem joined Governor Greg Abbott and other state personnel for a press conference on Saturday, where a journalist grilled the cabinet member on the delayed warning from the National Weather Service.
‘ICE Barbie’ blamed the ‘ancient system’ and said the Trump Administration would look into renewing the system to better work for US citizens.
‘The weather is extremely difficult to predict,’ Noem said. ‘But also that the National Weather Service, over the years at times, has done well and at times, we have all wanted more time and more warning and more notification.’
She said the Trump Administration is working to ‘fix’ and ‘update the technology.’
‘We needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years and that is the reforms that are ongoing there.’
Residents were not warned until 1:18pm on July 3 and were told it was ‘moderate’ storms.
Noem did not bring up how the Trump Administration had proposed cuts for FEMA and NOAA, both which help during natural disasters. The proposal includes cutting NOAA’s weather laboratories that research severe storms, as well as, its hub for climate science coordination and research.
Many Texans have blamed the slow updates as part of the reason 46 lost their lives and 27 are still missing.
Among those who have lost their lives are three children and five adults.
Governor Greg Abbott said the search for survivors will continue 24 hours a day.
‘We will find every one of them,’ he promised on Saturday, while calling the state’s response to the tragedy ‘quintessentially Texas.’
‘When Texas faces a challenge, we come together, we unite,’ he said, while sitting next to Noem.
‘It’s what Texans do, it’s what we will continue to do… We will not stop today or tomorrow, we will stop when it’s finish.’
He also signed a request for federal aid, which Noem said the president is expected to sign.
Earlier today, harrowing images have emerged showing the remains of a Texas summer camp at least three campers lost their lives after it was deluged by deadly flood waters.
At least three campers were killed when the unprecedented current slammed into Hunt’s Camp Mystic as the girls slept in the early hours of Friday.
Dozens more people, including other campers, are still missing.
Among those confirmed dead are 15 children, including the three young girls who were attending Camp Mystic.
Renee Smajstrla, eight, Janie Hunt, nine, and Sarah Marsh all perished when Camp Mystic in Hunt was washed away by the flood waters.
Among the other confirmed dead are: Jeff Ramsey and Jane Ragsdale, the director of Heart O’ the Hills, another nearby summer camp. And 850 people have been rescued by authorities.
Heartbreaking pictures show how the side of the summer camp has been completely wrenched away by the floods.
Inside, the sodden beds and blankets of the campers can be seen covered in a thick sludge. Belongings such as bags and clothing are also seen strewn across the floor.
Another build saw its roof sag over the ruined building and pieces of jagged wood splintered underneath it.
A 27-year-old father, Julian Ryan, died saving his family after water flooded their home near the river.
As water quickly rose to their knees, Ryan punched a window to get his fiancée, children, and his mother out of the home safely and onto the roof.
The punch severed an artery in his arm and ‘almost cut it clean off,’ his fiancée, Christinia Wilson, told KHOU.
Hours later, he told them: ”I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all.’
His body was recovered hours later after the water receded. The family has started a GoFundMe.
The death toll could rise as the National Weather Service issued a warning that the City of Austin is next in line for biblical floods.
Experts fear that Lake Lyndon B. Johnson, which is near the Southern city, will burst as the Llano River is near its crest and flows quickly toward the body of water.
‘Boaters need to get off the water ASAP. Debris-filled fast-moving water will arrive rapidly,’ CBS Austin Meteorologist, Avery Tomasco, warned.
The river is flowing at a whopping 125,000 cubic-feet-per-second – nearly three times as fast as it was mere hours ago.
The rising river levels come after the Guadalupe River in Kerrville surged by up to 30 feet above its usual water levels on Friday.
Parts of the Lone Star State are expected to be lashed by up to five more inches of rain Saturday, stoking fears for dozens of people still missing.
Some areas are bracing for up to 10 more inches of rain.
Several counties – including Travis and Burnet Counties – are under a flash flood emergency as flood waters are tearing down homes, sweeping away children, and leaving families devastated.
The loved ones of the missing are desperately begging for help in finding their loved ones.
Four Camp Mystic campers feared missing have since been confirmed found by their families – Ella Bennett, a Camp Mystic counselor, and Annie Flack, a camper. Two other unidentified campers have also been found and were airlifted to safety.
At least two dozen more still have not been found.
A woman was captured being dramatically rescued after she was swept 12 miles downstream by raging floods in Texas.
The terrified youngster was pictured clinging to the branches of a tree as the rapids swelled beneath her.
The girl, who is yet to be identified, was later taken to safety, News 4 San Antonio reports.
A separate video showed a helicopter airlifting an individual to safety after the unprecedented floods hit Texas yesterday.
Officials have launched a massive rescue effort to locate dozens of missing individuals.
The names of those killed have not been shared, but the final death toll is expected to rise substantially as floodwaters recede.
Identities of the missing have begun to emerge as stricken families share photos of their loved ones in the hopes of learning information about their whereabouts.