Texas (BN24) – A 22-year-old woman survived a harrowing ordeal after she was carried 20 miles downriver by catastrophic flash floods that have killed at least 27 people and left dozens of young campers unaccounted for in Texas.
The woman was swept away from her campsite in Kerr County around 4 a.m. Friday as torrents of water surged through the Guadalupe River basin, according to KENS 5. For four hours, she was carried across four dams, forced to dodge cars, refrigerators, and other debris tumbling through the floodwaters.
After daybreak, a Center Point resident named Carl heard desperate screams when he stepped outside around 8 a.m. He looked out toward Lion’s Park Dam and saw the woman clinging to a massive cypress tree as the river roared beneath her.
Emergency calls were not going through due to damaged infrastructure, so Carl frantically flagged down a passing police cruiser for help.
Two rescue boats were quickly dispatched and fought the dangerous currents to reach her. By the time they arrived, floodwaters had dropped significantly, leaving her perched 12 feet above the receding river.
Rescuers coached her to let go of the tree and drop into the boat, finally bringing her to safety after hours of peril.
Authorities described the floods as an “extraordinary disaster” after a third of a year’s worth of rain fell in only a few hours, triggering a massive search-and-rescue operation still underway across the region.
