“I’ve had to sit on the side of the riverbank and cry so many times I could fill up a bathtub,” said Ashton Bolton, who grew up in Kerr County, Texas.
The local man shared with The Baptist Paper the “heartbreak” of searching the flooded river banks of the Guadalupe River, where deadly flash flooding claimed the lives of at least 100 people in the central part of the state over Fourth of July weekend. Dozens remain missing, including friends and family of Bolton.
“It breaks my heart,” he said. “I’ve lived here my entire life. This is my home, and I don’t know what to call this place anymore. It hurts. We just got to rebuild.”
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The hardest-hit area was reportedly Kerr County, where the river surged over 26 feet in less than an hour, washing away homes and parts of Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ summer camp. At least 84 people died in Kerr County alone, including 28 children, with 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic confirmed dead and 11 still unaccounted for, according to media reports.
Bolton continues his search for family, friends and others who are missing. He recalled the emotional pain of searching along the river near Camp Mystic. (See interview with Bolton and other video reports on The Baptist Paper Facebook page.)
‘It’s different when it’s home’
“There’s a lot of things in there that many people don’t see — that nobody needs to see,” Bolton said, noting the difficulty of walking along the river and finding little notes of campers from Camp Mystic “that their mom wrote on for them.”
“It’s different when it’s home,” he added, noting his faith in God has helped him press on in his search amid the flood damage. “You see it online, Indonesia, mudslides, Thailand. You just shrug it off, but when you’re thick of it and you see these kids perished, deceased … lifeless. It’s different.”
Baptist response
Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief and Texans on Mission teams are also on the ground, offering meals, chaplain care and relief services.
President Trump has declared a major disaster in the area, and more than 1,000 volunteers have joined the ongoing rescue efforts, according to media reports.
Ways to help
For more information on how you can help, check with your church, association or state Baptist convention to find out how they are contributing to this and other ongoing relief efforts in neighboring states, your state and beyond.
See related links below:
Texans rally for relief efforts, prayer after Hill Country tragedy -Baptist Press
Texans respond to devastating flooding -The World And Everything in It
What to know about the flash floods in Texas that killed over 100 people -Associated Press
104 dead as hard-hit areas in Texas face new flooding risks: Recap -USA Today
The links above are a sampling of headlines related to the story and are not an endorsement of all viewpoints or reporting.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was compiled by Shawn Hendricks, content editor of The Baptist Paper, with reporting from Marc Hooks and from various media reports. Hooks is on the ground for TBP in central Texas covering relief efforts.
