Two sisters who died holding each other, a doting grandmother who enjoyed sitting by the river, a camp counselor who mentored young girls: The faces of the Texas flooding tragedy
CNN
CNN, KPRC, KEYE, KABB, WOAI, KERR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, ROBERT BRAKE, EL PASO FIRE DEPARTMENT, KABB/ WOAI
By Alaa Elassar, Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN
(CNN) — Julian Ryan’s final words to his mother as floodwaters quickly engulfed their trailer home were simply, “I love you.”
He had made a split-second decision to thrust his arm through a window to help his fiancée, two young kids and mom escape the catastrophic flood tearing through Kerr County, Texas, swallowing everything in its path.
That last-ditch effort, an act of bravery, ultimately cost him his life. The glass had cut an artery in his arm.
Ryan’s mother held him as he bled and took his last breath, his sister, Connie Salas, told CNN.
“He went out a hero,” Salas said.
In the pitch-black, storm-lashed hours before dawn Friday, surging floodwaters unexpectedly ravaged the region, including a campsite filled with sleeping children. Four months’ worth of rain fell in just hours and the nearby Guadalupe River rose over 20 feet, sweeping homes, cars, campers and cabins downstream.
When the sunrise came and the storm softened, the full weight of the disaster came into view. Hundreds were missing, including over two dozen girls at a summer camp, and as minutes stretched into hours, hope gave way to grief.
More than 100 people, including 28 children, were killed in the catastrophic Texas floods and the death toll continues to rise, according to local officials. Ryan’s body wasn’t recovered until waters receded, according to CNN affiliate KHOU.
Now Ryan’s family and their heartbroken Texas community are reckoning with the depth of the tragedy — and searching for answers.
Here’s what we know about the victims.
A father of two and his final heroic act
It had been an exhausting shift for Ryan. The 27-year-old dishwasher had finished working at a local restaurant before returning to his Ingram, Texas, home, The New York Times reported.
He was finally asleep when surging floodwaters crashed through their trailer home.
In a matter of seconds, their front door gave way, slammed open by the power of the river. Ryan and his fiancée, with water rising to their chests, placed their 13-month-old and 6-year-old on the mattresses, which were floating, to keep them above the rising flood.
But the water kept rising. The bedroom door, sealed tight by the pressure on the other side, wouldn’t budge.
In those terrifying moments, Ryan shattered a window in a final attempt to get his family out. The glass tore into his arm, leaving him critically injured, his fiancée Christinia Wilson said.
She added the glass almost cut his arm clean off.
After multiple calls to 911 went unanswered, Ryan looked at them, she said, and told them, “‘I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all.’”
His sister, who lived just steps away from him and also lost her home, told CNN there was no warning and no time to act. A flash flood emergency warning was issued for Kerr County at 4:03 a.m. about an hour before the raging Guadalupe River burst from its banks. The late-night warnings limited who could see them – and how quickly they could move to higher ground.
“We had no time to physically save ourselves,” Salas said. “Our last words were, ‘I’m scared,’” she said. “And he says, ‘Me too.’”
The family is overwhelmed with grief and struggling to cope, Salas says, especially their mother, who was there for Ryan’s final moments and saw him take his last breath.
“While they were literally panicking and about to drown, my mother was still holding up her son and he looked at her and said, ‘I love you,’” Salas said. “So my mom has that heartbreak of looking at her son and telling him goodbye, holding him while he takes his last breath.”
Salas says the family feels like they’re trapped in a nightmare they can’t wake up from; a reality where Ryan will never walk through the door again “and be that funny person he is.”
Camp Mystic campers
At Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River that hosts about 750 kids, the massive flooding seemed to have ripped the wall off at least one building and left a cabin covered in dirt and mud, with girls’ mattresses strewn across the floor, photos of the devastation show. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the camp was “horrendously ravaged.” He was shocked, he said, that the rushing water reached the top of the cabins.
A total of 27 campers and counselors are dead, the camp announced Monday. Ten campers and one counselor who were at the facility are still missing, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said.
The camp’s longtime director and co-owner, Dick Eastland, died while trying to rescue campers, his grandson said Saturday. A Camp Mystic employee, Glenn Juenke, told CNN that Eastland died “remaining a true hero until the very end.”
The families of several campers confirmed their children are among the victims. Hadley Hanna, described by her mother as the “most joyful, happy kid with a smile on her face,” was one of the young lives lost. A family spokesperson asked for “privacy and prayers” for the family of the 8-year-old.
“Our families are experiencing unimaginable grief. We are reaching out with a heartfelt request for privacy and compassion,” the family said in a statement to CNN Monday. “We appreciate your empathy, your prayers, and understanding.”
The families of Renee Smajstrla, 8; Eloise Peck, 8; Linnie McCown, 8; Janie Hunt, 9; Sarah Mash; and Lila Bonner all confirmed their deaths.
“It’s truly devastating,” Shawn Salta, Smajstrla’s uncle, told CNN.
In a post on Facebook, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt said she was “heartbroken” over the loss of Sarah Marsh.
“We are keeping her family in our thoughts and prayers during this unimaginable time,” Britt said.
“In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time,” the Bonner family said in a statement. “We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly for others to be spared from this tragic loss.”
2 young sisters who had a close bond
On the night they died, 13-year-old and 11-year-old sisters Blair and Brooke Harber went to the loft of their cabin holding their rosaries – a string of beads used by Catholics to count prayers.
The next morning, their bodies were found together 15 miles downriver, according to a statement from St. Rita Catholic School, where the girls were set to begin 6th and 8th grade this year.
“Even in their last moments, they held tightly to each other, a powerful symbol of their lasting bond and their trust in God,” the school said in the statement.
Blair and Brooke had been staying with their grandparents along the Guadalupe River when the tragedy unfolded. Their grandparents remain missing while their parents, who were staying in a separate cabin, survived, the school’s statement said.
The sisters’ father, RJ Harber, confirmed their deaths to CNN on Saturday. He said he believes his missing parents Charlene and Mike Harber are also deceased.
“(Blair) was a gifted student and had a generous kind heart,” RJ Harber said. “(Brooke) was like a light in any room, people gravitated to her and she made them laugh and enjoy the moment.”
The school described Blair as an “outstanding student” with “the kindest heart and loved to serve others.” She played volleyball, basketball, lacrosse and was a member of the cheerleading team, yearbook staff and speech and drama program.
Brooke, the school said, “was an excellent student who brought joy and energy wherever she went.” She played soccer, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse and had a special gift for improv.
Blair and Brooke’s mother, Annie Harber, is a faculty member at St. Rita Catholic School.
“The Harber family has been a cherished part of our parish and school community for many years,” the school said. “This tragedy has touched every corner of our hearts.”
A girls camp director who loved to sing
Jane Ragsdale was the “heart and soul” of Heart O’ the Hills, another all-girls camp in Hunt, Texas, according to the camp’s website.
The co-owner and camp director, Ragsdale died during the floods. She had “influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful,” the camp said.
The camp, set alongside the Guadalupe River, was not in session at the time of the flooding, and “most of those who were on camp at the time have been accounted for and are on high ground,” according to an announcement from the camp.
A video last month shows Ragsdale playing the guitar and singing with campers. She sings the song “Let There Always Be A Song”.
“When you sing you say, life is good today,” she sings. “So keep singing till we meet again.”
A high school soccer coach and his wife
Reece Zunker was not just a soccer coach. The head coach of the Tivy High School’s boys soccer team was “a mentor, teacher and a role model,” the team said on Facebook.
They added they were mourning “the loss of our leader and inspiration.”
Zunker died in this holiday weekend’s flooding tragedy, his niece told CNN. Mackenzey Zunker said her father identified her uncle’s body Saturday evening.
Paula Zunker, Reece’s wife, also died, according to the soccer team’s statement and a post by Recce Zunker’s cousin, Haley Furlough.
The couple’s two children remain unaccounted for, Furlough wrote.
A loving grandmother who helped foster care children
Dr. Katheryn Eads, another victim of the Texas floods, “lived a fulfilling life, cut far too short,” her daughter Victoria Eads told CNN in a family statement.
“She was an incredible wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, and person who spent her life helping kids,” the statement continued.
Eads assisted children in the foster care system in her early career and continued on as a psychologist and a college professor, her daughter told CNN.
“Trying to figure out our lives without her is a possibility we never planned to face and we will always miss her.”
A doting grandmother who loved the river
Holly Frizzell, who died in the flood, had a personality that was “larger than life-magnetic, warm, and unforgettable,” her family wrote in an obituary posted by Hamil Funeral Home.
Frizzell, 72, had a home in Casa Bonita and loved the Guadalupe River where she found “peace, joy, and reflection,” the obituary said.
“It was where she laughed with her family and friends, made memories with her grandchildren, and sat quietly by the river,” the family wrote.
Frizzell lost her husband, who had been diagnosed with dementia, in 2015. After his death, she became an advocate for people battling dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Frizzell’s grandchildren were “the center of her universe,” her obituary said.
“We will all miss her more than words can express and cherish the gift of having been loved by her,” the family said.
A Camp Mystic counselor and mentor
Chloe Childress, a 19-year-old counselor at Camp Mystic and recent high school graduate, was killed during the catastrophic flooding in Kerr County, Texas, her family confirmed.
“Our family was shocked to hear of the horrific tragic flooding in the Hill Country, and we were devastated to learn that our precious Chloe was among the victims,” the family said in a statement shared with CNN affiliate KHOU.
Childress recently graduated from The Kinkaid School in Houston, according to CNN affiliate KTRK, and was spending her summer mentoring young girls at Camp Mystic. She was set to attend college at the University of Texas at Austin, KTRK reported.
“Chloe was looking forward to dedicating her summer days to loving and mentoring young girls,” her family said. “While we know that her joy is now eternal and her faith has become sight, our hearts are shattered by this loss and the similar heartbreak of other families like ours.”
Jonathan Eades, head of The Kinkaid School, remembered Childress as someone with the ability to connect with others.
“Chloe had a remarkable way of making people feel seen,” Eades said in a statement with KTRK. “She was wise beyond her years, with a steady compassion that settled a room…She lost her life upholding this selfless and fierce commitment to others.”
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CNN’s Sarah Dewberry, Julianna Bragg, Diego Mendoza and Isaac Yee contributed to this report.
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