Texans offer a hand and open their hearts as flood death toll grows

TEXAS – Ms Chloe Childress, an 18-year-old counsellor at Camp Mystic who died in the

central Texas floods last weekend,

was a force of spontaneity who embraced every moment, family and friends said on July 12 at a memorial service in Houston.

Whether it was goofing off in a locker room, going all out to win a school award, or concocting ideas to try to meet Taylor Swift, she was, her friend Ms Bennett Bowman said, “a girl who was 100 per cent heart”.

In Kerrville, Texas, Ms Sally Sample Graves, who was 91 when she died in the flood in Ingram, received praise for how she looked out for her 10 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

“She wouldn’t buy dryer sheets for herself because they cost too much, but she helped every one of us grandchildren pay for college,” her granddaughter Laura Scott said at a funeral.

Across Texas this weekend, as the death toll from the flooding grew to 129 and a legion of workers kept up their search for the missing, the loved ones of victims paid tribute at services while wrestling with the emptiness left behind.

“This is as terrible as you think it is,” Ms Childress’ father Matthew said.

Officials on July 12 said the number of deaths from the flooding in Kerr County had risen to 103 – 67 adults and 36 children – and that 161 people were still missing. The number of fatalities in nearby counties remained unchanged on July 12.

The outpouring of grief and sympathy only grew.

At a funeral in Kerrville for an eight-year-old girl who was at Camp Mystic, hundreds of people wore green and pink in honour of the child’s favourite colours. (Green was also the colour of Camp Mystic.)

In and around the Hill Country, where canopied cedar trees and sprawling green fields stretched below puffy white clouds, firehouses and church carparks were crammed with volunteers on July 12.

They unpacked boxes and boxes of donated supplies, including water bottles, diapers and canned food. Dozens of workers in construction hats toiled on the banks of the Guadalupe River, where debris had piled up and massive trees lay on their sides.

Mr Joe Herring Jr, the mayor of Kerrville, posted a video on Facebook encouraging residents to seek mental health support if they need it.

When people ask him how he is doing, Mr Herring said “the answer really is, not doing great”. He shared that he also had sought counselling.

Around the state, the processing of grief took different forms. Residents have been tying green ribbons around tree trunks in memory of the girls at Camp Mystic, where at least 27 people died in the flood waters.

Tributes to lost children, parents, siblings and friends appeared across social media. In Midland, a local tattoo shop invited community members to get tattoos to commemorate five dead or missing members of two families who had been camping together by the Guadalupe River before being swept away.

Mr Ed Alvarado, the owner of the shop, the Body Gallery, knew members of both families from school and their ties to Midland’s local music scene.

“Losing these people – this group of people – it really cracked my heart open,” he said.

The family of Ms Graves said she had lived a full life, but that they were still coming to terms with her absence.

“I’m just sad that we won’t be able to experience her love any more,” her daughter, Ms Catherine Graves, said.

Ms Catherine Graves said that her brother, Mr Clark Graves, had lived in their mother’s home for years as her caretaker.

As the flood waters rose, she said, Mr Clark Graves kicked out a window and pulled his mother through. They climbed as far as they could.

He grabbed hold of a tree, and his mother took hold of him. They lasted about four hours in the water, she said. Mr Clark Graves survived. Ms Sally Graves died in his arms.

In Houston, Mr Matthew Childress asked a packed audience at St Luke’s United Methodist Church for support in coping with life without his daughter.

“Please help me take care of my wife, who has lost her first child and her best friend,” he said.

Ms Chloe Childress was described by her family as having a deep faith in God. The Reverend Katie Montgomery Mears, who led the service, shared a note that Ms Childress wrote in one of her devotional books.

“I don’t always understand. Sometimes awful things happen, and I don’t get it at all and I’m confused. Still, I choose to trust you,” Ms Montgomery Mears quoted from the note. As she continued, she came to the last part of Ms Childress’ entry.

“I won’t lose faith,” she read. “I’ll keep going.” NYTIMES