Search teams in Texas persist in efforts to locate missing flood victims along the Guadalupe River despite recurring heavy rains.
COMFORT, Texas — For a time mid-day Monday, more heavy rain forced search teams off the Guadalupe River, as the water started to rise – again, as it has several times since a downpour on the Fourth of July killed many across Texas.
But as soon as the sky cleared, searchers, most of them volunteers, were back at it.
Foot soldiers in the campaign to find people who were swept away and lost have been out here since the beginning, but as the river comes up and down with each rain, the search parameters keep changing.
Searcher Stacy Kimbell, who has been working a command post on behalf of Center Point Volunteer Fire Department, said “We just need servant hearts. Individuals that have a drive that are able body and willing to come.”
“We’re doing swift water, horseback, heavy equipment, ATVs, UTVs, dogs, cadaver dogs. We’re doing rehab for all of that here,” Kimbell said.
Kimbell said just show up, with resources if you have them to share.
“Our immediate needs are gonna be canopies, tables, chairs, especially for our rehabbing our guys, um, and people boots on the ground,” Kimbell said.
July 4, this search area was one of many spots the Guadalupe River that surged out of its banks and overtook everything in its path.
Now it is volunteers surging through the debris left behind, whether they travel on four feet or just two, they are about midway between Comfort and Center Point on Highway 27.
As authorized drones overhead yield the sky every time a helicopter makes a pass, Kimbell says one big challenge is that even when K-9s alert…some victims are being found deep below the surface.
“When they do get a confirmed hit of an odor, we’re able to carefully go through these piles with excavators and spotters and try to figure out the source of what the cadaver dog hit on and sometimes it’s a big dig,” Kimbell said, adding “Unfortunately, because of all the debris, all the pea gravel that came up and everything else, all the soil, so it’s not something that people are just walking around obviously finding these lost souls. They’re actually having to dig out these individuals.”
Kimbell said they have tools needed for searching.
“We can equip you with what you need and we’ll feed you. We’ll water you. We’ll take care of all of that, we just need you out here dressed appropriately with hiking shoes and protective clothing.”
The command post usually operates until 5pm daily. Kimbell said it’s important for volunteers to register and be assigned a specific grid to search.