Several survivors testified before state legislators during the hearing Thursday.
SAN ANTONIO — Emotional testimony from those who survived the Fourth of July floods from victims of the Kerr County floods.
Just yesterday, they appeared in front of lawmakers in a 13-hour long hearing telling their stories, and the changes that need to be made to keep another tragedy from happening.
Survivors want accountability and change.
In the hours of testimony, they told lawmakers there needs to be a unified way to get more help.
“I waited with my mother near my front door for nearly 13 hours in terror watching my hometown being destroyed unable to go there,” Courtney Kate Calhoun said to lawmakers.
Born and raised in Hunt, TX, Calhoun had been in Travis County for the Fourth of July, but once she saw what was happening she couldn’t sit still.
“Without the proper notification I could leave – I took a risk. I rushed down to Kerr County and immediately went down for search and rescue,” Calhoun said.
She and several others testified before state legislators.
“We were all traumatized but we did it anyway – Texans are showing up for each other every single day, now it’s time for our elected leaders to do the same,” one woman testified.
“I’ve been through about 25 floods in Kerr County – a mark on our property of the 1932 flood was far surpassed this time,” a Kerr County resident testified.
Parents like Keli Rabon who had two sons at Camp La Junta recalled what her children witnessed.
“Riding out the storm, as the structure literally fell around him, my 9-year-old was in a higher cabin and for 12 agonizing hours he had no idea if his brother was alive,” Rabon said.
Testimony was also given to let the public and lawmakers aware of what they need.
“We don’t need more clothes or bottled water right now – it’s figuring that out and putting it on some kind of website that as soon as it happens this goes live,” one woman said – especially as the community tries to piece every life back together.
“Kerr County schools are going to supply school supplies – but some of these kids still need shoes and clothes – and somehow we need to get that sourced,” the woman said.
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