Hundreds of 911 calls from the catastrophic flash flooding that swamped theTexas Hill Country on July 4and killed over 130 people have been released, revealing the horror and devastation that turned a national holiday into a tragedy.
The audio of the desperate calls will be distressing, Kerrville Police Chief Chris McCall warned Thursday.
"We are missing a whole cabin of girls," an unidentified woman caller told a dispatcher after the rain-swollen Guadalupe River washed through Kerr County. "I think the only way you're gonna be able to get here is helicopter."
In another 911 call, a man later identified as Brad Perry told a dispatcher he had climbed a tree to escape the floodwaters and that it was "starting to lean."
"I'm gonna die if I don't get a helicopter, is it possible?" Perry asked. "I've probably got five minutes left and I'm dead."
Perry also said he feared his wife, Tina, was dead.
"My wife got stuck between an RV and a tree," he said. "The RV and tree all got swept down the river she's gone."
In the end, Tina Perry survived and her husband didn't.
"Some callers did not survive," McCall said in a video announcing that the audio for at least 579 calls would be released. "We ask that you keep them and their family members, loved ones and friends in your thoughts and prayers."
The Kerrville Police Department said the calls were being released in compliance with Freedom of Information Act requests from eight media outlets.
Over 130 people were killed after slow-moving thunderstorms triggered dangerous flash flooding and caused the Guadalupe River to rapidly rise, surging more than 20 feet within 90 minutes.
The floods inundatedCamp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for young girls, and killed at least 27 campers and camp counselors. The deluge hit Kerr County hard, as well as Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties.
"We need search and rescue, please," Glenn Juenke said in one 911 call released on Thursday. "We're missing 20 to 40 people here since the flood. We're out of power, hardly have any cell service.
"If you can call the National Guard, please. … 39 is out, right at Mystic crossing. It's totally gone, the roadway is gone. The only way out here for search and rescue is going to be helicopter. We're going to have a landing zone set up," he added.
Stories emerged from the natural disaster of campers and counselors swept away, bodies found in vehicles, buildings and homes destroyed, and families searching for loved ones for days.
The calls began at 2:52 a.m. on July 4, McCall said. There were two people staffing the Kerrville Police Department's 911 center, which is the primary answering point for all 911 calls in Kerr County, when the calls began, he said.
Over the next six hours, the center answered 435 calls to 911 as the disaster unfolded, McCall said. Just between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., it answered 106 such calls.
"I'm in a tree. I was in my camper at the campsite. … I had to get myself and my kids out but I was able to get to a tree," one woman said in a 911 call.
"You said it's you and your two daughters?," the dispatcher asked the woman.
"No, I only have one daughter with me. I don't know if my son and my other, youngest daughter made it out," the woman said, before reiterating that they were in a tree.
McCall said the staffers who took the calls "showed incredible perseverance." After helping all they could, they "were faced with the difficult decision to disconnect and move on to the next call," he said.
McCall on Thursday called on people to seek help for themselves or others who may be having a difficult time.
"As our community continues to recover, please make sure you're taking care of yourself emotionally," he said. "I'm proud of the strength and resiliency shown by our community in the wake of this tragedy, and the care and comfort we have shown for those lost."
"Remember, Kerrville: We are stronger together," he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
