
The couple, who lived in East Texas, moved to the HTR TX Hill Country Campground, one of the hardest hit areas by the floods.
KERR COUNTY, Texas — As families rush to the Texas Hill Country, desperately searching for their missing loved ones, one woman is holding onto hope that her father and stepmother are still alive.
After devastating flashfloods, first responders are still searching for many missing people. Among those are Jaeme Behrendt’s father, Richard Pagard, his wife Carol Andrews, and their dog Poppy.
“I do know though, if my dad knew that this was going to be a flood this capacity coming, he would not be down there at that campground that night,” Behrendt said. “I think I don’t know how many times I tried to call the Red Cross and the sheriff’s department on Friday and posting everywhere on Facebook and doing everything I can to get out there and get more information also on just like how to find them.”
The couple sold their home in East Texas and moved to the HTR TX Hill Country Campground, one of the hardest hit areas by the floods.
“Just to kind of imagine maybe what my father went through like, I know he’s a really strong man and not scared of anything even any type of body of water, like I when I was growing up, he was a surfer, so getting pulled under, is nothing he cannot manage,” Behrendt said.
Flood waters surged rapidly, rising 26 feet on the Guadalupe River in just 45 minutes. Behrendt believes her father’s instinct was protecting his wife Carol, on top of helping others.
“Trying to imagine where they are right now and hoping that there’s, you know, there’s somewhere still, we can still find them safe and alive, is something I’m trying to cling to right now, but also trying to go down the worst-case scenario for our family all as well,” Behrendt said.
Now, Behrendt and her family are focused on searching for their loved ones and their dog.
“I’m still trying to remain very hopeful,” Behrendt said. “I just hope that there’s some happy stories coming out of this, and some happy endings.”
In a news conference Monday morning, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, delivered remarks on the tragic situation. He says Texas always comes together in times of need.
“Search and rescue is the first stage, but the process of coming together and rebuilding is going to take longer,” Cruz said.