() Volunteers are braving the heat to find more victims still unaccounted for after deadly floods ravaged Central Texas late last week.
The groups of volunteers include the United Cajun Navy. The organization has employed helicopters and rescue boats to navigate the dangerous floodwaters.
Brian Trascher, the group’s president, told Elizabeth Vargas Reports on Monday that four boats were distributed Friday out of San Antonio.
“When we saw the hard time everyone was having, and we saw it was going to be an air operation as well; we contacted our partners and they got helicopters in the air,” he said. “As we can tell, it was going to be a mass casualty event, so we deployed a K-9 team out of Jackson County, Mississippi, and search-and-rescue teams behind the storm chasers. We have quite a few assets on the ground.
In Hill Country, officials say more than 40 people are missing, but the number is likely much higher. They also acknowledged that the chances of survival decrease with each passing hour. Trascher alluded to the conditions that have made operations tougher to find people. Despite that, his team has made a total of 11 recoveries.
The sensitive nature of some of these searches — because the victims include kids — has added extra difficulty for Trascher and his team.
“That’s what makes it tough, because everyone knows that’s a possibility to come across that,” Trascher added.
“It’s personal for me. Last year, my daughter was at a camp in North Carolina that got cut short within 36 hours of her departure and return to Louisiana. That camp was destroyed. So, I know what it’s like to have a near miss. I’m not going through anything like these people are going through here.”
Loved ones, including the parents of 11 girls from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, are holding out hope they are somehow found. At least 104 people were dead as of Monday, including campers and counselors from an all-girls summer camp.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday said more heavy rain and storms were expected across central Texas. He recommended that residents remain cautious for the next 24 to 48 hours.
