I’m enjoying a few days off. Away from the news. Well, I’m never really away from it.
That said, I’m watching the heartbreaking news of what had happened on the Guadalupe River in central Texas.
As I write this, 51 are dead. 15 are children. Many are still missing.
It caused me to think back to July of 1987. I was working in San Antonio for the CBS affiliate. KENS-TV.
Just like today, there was flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas. This time, it was in the town of Comfort.
It had rained. A lot. Inches, in a short time. The Guadalupe had risen quickly.
Some teenagers at a Christian camp were swept away while trying to get away from rising flood waters. Some were trapped in trees and had to be airlifted to safety. Others didn’t make it. Ten died.
I can still see the face of the girl too exhausted to hang on to the rescue rope from the helicopter fall into the river. She didn’t make it. To this day, one of the worst stories I have ever covered.
As bad as it was then, this flooding is worse. It happened at the worst possible time. In the night. They apparently knew the rain was coming, but no one could have known how much and this fast.
I’ve been reaching out to friends in San Antonio. They are devastated about this. Some know someone who is connected to this disaster.
A friend sent a text that showed how a little girl held on to a tree. She was saved. Her three little friends couldn’t hang on. They, in the little girl’s words, “drifted away.” Oh, my.
I remember the wonderful days tubing on the Guadalupe River. It was so much fun. A group of us would tie those tubes together, with a cooler of beer in the middle of us, and drift down the Guadalupe.
I’m thinking about that today. I’m also thinking about the dad I just saw on CNN. He has taken it upon himself to walk the banks of the Guadalupe. His daughter is missing. He hasn’t given up hope. Who could?
That story of the flooding in Comfort, Texas, in 1987, has stayed with me all these years later. All I can think of now is that it has happened again.
I’m so sorry you have to deal with sad news again. I don’t envy reporters for what they see and hear. But you, my friend always bring a smile to my face in the mornings. Keep on keeping on.