Dad killed in Texas floods while 'holding onto his babies' as they were swept away, witness speaks out
Topics: Texas floods, Community, Texas, US News, Weather
Liv Bridge
Featured Image Credit: John Burgess/Facebook
Topics: Texas floods, Community, Texas, US News, Weather
A dad was tragically killed in the Texas floods while 'holding onto his babies' as they were swept away, a witness has said.
Deadly flash floods rampaged across central Texas and Kerr County last week, as families celebrated Independence Day on Friday, July 4.
A month's worth of rain fell in just a matter of hours while the swelling of the Guadalupe River rose to a dangerous level of 26 feet in around 45 minutes.
The floods swept away entire mobile homes, cars and even cabins that many were residing in on vacation for the holidays.
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It has since been confirmed that the catastrophe claimed the lives of at least 105 people, including 28 children, as search and rescue efforts reached the fifth day for the dozens still missing.
Now, heartbreaking tales are emerging out of the mourning community, from grief-stricken parents to witnesses who saw people being swept away.
John Burgess was one such victim who is believed to have been taken and killed by the waters while 'holding tight' to his babies, the owner of the RV park where his family was staying has revealed, reports PEOPLE.
The father had been staying in Texas Hill County with his wife, Julia Anderson Burgess, and their two boys when the floods occurred.
According to KWTX, the family had visited the camp from Liberty, Texas, to collect their eldest daughter from another camp that had not been affected by the floods.
Lorena Guillen, owner of the Blue Oak RV Park, recalled the father desperately clutching his two sons while clinging to a tree.
“My husband was in the water trying to ask them, ‘Please throw me your baby!’ The man was holding tight to his babies, and he just got swept away," she said to the New York Post.
Guillen said the Burgess', like many families, had come for the Fourth of July celebrations, adding: “The kids were so excited to be here."
She also revealed all 28 of the RV's parked at the camp were destroyed and recalls the harrowing moments they were swept away in the pitch-black darkness.
"We heard people screaming throughout the night,” she continued. “The cabins from the RV park next door came floating, and they were getting smashed against the trees."
”‘Help me! Help me!’ — that was the main thing. You heard a lot of screaming, it was just too much,” Guillen added.
Tragically, the bodies of John, a graduate of China Spring High School in the Waco area, and his wife, a former teacher at Belton’s Lakewood Elementary, have since been recovered, reports WLUC.
However, their two sons remain missing.
“The neighbors around here, we’ve all been praying and everything, and it’s just a sad, sad situation. I just can’t hardly believe it," a neighbor, Winnie Taylor, told the outlet.
A fundraiser to rebuild the now-devastated Blue Oak RV Park has since raised $1,599 at the time of writing.
The GoFundMe can be donated to here.