Texas flooding: Hunt residents climbed into attic to escape rising floodwaters
Hunt residents recount dramatic flood survival
The city of Hunt has received the most attention throughout this disaster, as the home of Camp Mystic. The city has been hard to get to with the roads damaged or shut down for the emergency response.
HUNT, Texas - The city of Hunt has received the most attention throughout this disaster, as the home of Camp Mystic. The city has been hard to get to with the roads damaged or shut down for the emergency response.
What we know:
In his now flood-torn home, James Wright recalls grabbing a flashlight to see if flooding was approaching his home in Hunt, Texas, early on Friday morning.
"The river was in our yard," said Wright. "It was so surreal, I turned it off and turned it back on. You couldn’t believe it? I couldn’t believe it. It looked like an ocean."
The 69-year-old and his wife sought higher ground in their garage attic as water nearly reached them and the two thought about making a phone call.
James Wright
"Probably within four feet of us," he said. "Somebody needs to know where we are, not so someone can get us, but if something bad happens, they’ll know that we were here."
Fortunately, the couple survived. Now, with a yard full of belongings, Wright’s home will be torn down.
"I’m blessed. I’m so lucky," said Wright.
"I have the wherewithal to rebuild."
Volunteers remember Camp Mystic
What they're saying:
The Wright family lives down the road from Camp Mystic.
"It’s a beautiful camp, beautiful girls," Wright said. "This is apocalyptic."
Several days after the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River, crews are still searching for some of the missing girls from Camp Mystic. The community of Hunt, Texas is beyond devastated, but people are coming from all across Texas to help them out.
Volunteer, Justin Morris, used to visit Camp Mystic for co-ed dances as a kid.
"I used to go to camp out here in Hunt, TX. I went to Camp Stewart when I was a kid," he said. "I’d have dances here at Camp Mystic, because it was an all-girls camp. We were an all-boys camp. They mixed for dances."
Morris is now volunteering with Good Shepherd Episcopal School’s disaster relief and recovery out of Dallas.
"You see everything on the news, you see pictures online, you see everything through a phone and then when you get here, it’s just way worse than you think."
Dig deeper:
Hank Coble is also volunteering in Hunt alongside his family.
"You just feel sorry for everybody," he said.
Coble felt most sorry for his friends from Dallas, Blair and Brooke Harber, as they were swept away by floodwaters while vacationing in a cabin with their grandparents.
"I saw their dad who had just lost his parents and his daughters and I saw him just crying on the curb. I knew I had to do something after that, you know," said Coble.
Spirits remain high
Local perspective:
No single image can describe the wide-reaching devastation in Hunt as the Guadalupe River streams through the heart of the community and others in Central Texas.
Wright tells FOX 4 that spirits remain high in Hunt because, in the aftermath of the heaviest disaster his community has ever seen, the response is bringing everyone together.
"What you see here is nobody gives a damn what your religion is, what your race is, what your gender is. Nobody cares. Everybody just cares that you’re a human being, and you’ve been hurt, and how can we help you? How can we help you get through this?"
The Source: Information in this article was provided from interviews conducted by FOX 4's David Sentendrey.