A father left heartbreaking voicemails for his children after he realized he and his wife were being swept away by the deadly Texas floods.
Jeff Ramsey, 61, and his wife Tanya, 46, were camping at HTR RV Park in Kerrville with their whippet dog, Chloe, when the Guadalupe River flooded and surged by up to 30 feet above its usual water level on July 4.
The father used his final moments to send a message to his two children, Jake, 24, and Rachel, 23, letting them know he loved them as the waters raged in the background.
More than 160 people are believed to be missing days after a destructive wall of water took the lives of at least 111 people.
At least 27 little girls and their counselors from the century-old, all-girls Christian camp tragically died when the ‘tsunami wall of water’ struck the campsite before daybreak on Friday.
Five campers and one 19-year-old counselor are among at least 173 people still missing in the floodwaters five days on from the tragedy.
Officials in Texas are facing mounting questions about whether they did enough to get people out of harm’s way.
Governor Greg Abbott has offered a sassy excuse for why he won’t entertain questions about who is ‘to blame’ for the devastating floods.
Abbott held a press conference on Tuesday to update the public on the devastating death toll, vowing to stop at nothing until ‘every person’ is accounted for.
But when he was asked who was ‘to blame’ for the tragedy, Abbott went on the offensive, using a football analogy to warn the reporter that only ‘losers’ cast blame in a time like this.
It comes as a chilling new flash flood killed at least three people in New Mexico Tuesday night.
Texas flood victim left heartbreaking voicemails for his kids as the waters rushed in
Jeff Ramesy, 61, left devastating voicemails for his children seconds before the raging Texas floodwaters swept him and his wife away.
Ramesy and his wife, Tanya, 46, were camping at HTR RV Park in Kerrville with their whippet dog, Chloe, when the Guadalupe River flooded and surged by up to 30 feet above its usual water level on July 4.
His children, Jake, 24, and Rachel, 23, awoke to find a harrowing message from their father with the sounds of the raging floodwater in the background.
‘Once they realized there was nothing they could do, my stepmom was on the phone with her mom while my dad made a call to me and my sister. We were asleep. He left us a message saying he was not going to make it and that he loved us so much, telling us goodbye,’ Jake told the New York Post.
‘He called me once he realized there was no hope. It was a short voicemail. He just left me a voicemail. He said, “Buddy. I love you so much. It doesn’t look like we are going to make it. Tell Rachey I love her.”‘
Jake noted it was out of character for his dad to sound afraid, and his stepmom was screaming in the background, ‘We’re dying, we’re dying!’
‘You never heard this guy panic but we heard panic and fear in his voice,’ he said.
Tanya was killed in the flood, but Jeff has not been found as of Wednesday morning, according to the family.
A local animal rescue found their beloved pup and will reunite her with the family.
Texas flood death toll reaches 111
The death toll has risen to 111, but there are fears that could more than double in the coming days with at least 173 people still unaccounted for.
The death toll and missing persons can be broken down by county:
- Kerr: 87 fatalities, 161 missing
- Travis: 7 fatalities, 10 missing
- Kendall: 8 fatalities, 0 missing
- Burnet: 5 fatalities, 1 missing
- Williamson: 3 fatalities, 1 missing
- Tom Green: 1 fatality, 0 missing
Flood survivors say looters are targeting their homes
Homeowners like Kyle Hammock from Kerrville told Daily Mail he has been on alert after he noticed strangers ‘snooping’ around his riverfront home.
‘There’s just been a handful of people that are up to no good, just checking stuff out,’ Hammock said. ‘We had to run a couple of people out.’
Where were the Texas floods?
Deadly floods swept through Central Texas on the Fourth of July.
The massive rain flowing down hills sent rushing water into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet in just 45 minutes.
Kerr County, home to many youth camps, including Camp Mystic, and the surrounding areas, such as Kerrville and Hunt, were hit the hardest by the flood.
Searchers have found the bodies of 87 people, including 30 children, in Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Tuesday.
The other affected counties include Travis, Kendall, Burnet, Williamson, and Tom Green Counties.
Terror of Texas flood victim’s final moments revealed
One of the tragic stories to emerge from the floods on Tuesday was the death of 64-year-old Sherry Richardson.
She reportedly spent 30 minutes on the phone to a first responder while climbing to the loft of her two-story cabin before the line finally cut out.
Three dead in New Mexico flood
A man, a four-year-old girl and seven-year-old boy were swept away Tuesday night by floodwaters in southern New Mexico.
‘Our hearts are broken for the families who have lost their loved ones in this terrible tragedy,’ Village of Rudioso Mayor Lynn Crawford said.
‘We are united in our sorrow and our commitment to supporting one another as we face this devastating loss together.’
Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars, said Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The water had receded by Tuesday night and search and rescue and swift water rescue teams were scouring the town for the missing people, while public works crews cleared debris from the roadways. Some cars were left stranded in the mud.
Mom of three Camp Mystic campers shares their story of survival
Lisa Miller’s three daughters, 14-year-old Eliza, 12-year-old Genevieve and nine-year-old Birdie, all miraculously survived the deadly flood.
