Six of Xavier Ramirez’s family members were near the Guadalupe River when it overflowed during the devastating flooding in Texas last week, he said. Only one has returned home.
Ramirez’s mother, Michelle Crossland, stepfather Cody Crossland, uncle Joel Ramos, aunt Tasha Ramos, and cousins Kendall Ramos and Devyn Smith were all at HTR Campgrounds near Ingram, Texas, when the flooding began on Friday, July 4, according to NBC News.
Ramirez, 23, told the outlet that his family had been visiting the camping site since he was a boy.
As of Sunday, July 6, one of Ramirez’s cousins, 23-year-old Smith, is the only one on the trip who has survived, as far as he knows.
She was discovered in a tree about 20 miles downstream and is currently recovering in a hospital, he told NBC News.
Ramirez is now waiting to find out what happened to the rest of his family, as are so many others. According to NBC, all he knows about their final moments before the floodwaters rose is what his cousin told him.
According to Smith, the family took precautions because they were aware of the impending extreme weather, as reported by NBC.
Ramirez told the outlet that they slept in trucks, one with his aunt and uncle and another with his mother, stepfather, and teen cousin. “They did not think it was safe in a tent,” he told me.
When the river flooded early Friday, his aunt awoke first, and the family rushed to climb through the truck sunroofs, he told NBC News. His mother, stepfather, and Smith reached higher ground with plans to seek assistance.
“They lost my uncle first,” Ramirez told NBC News. “He tried to keep them all together,” he said, “but could not hold on.”
On Saturday, July 5, a search yielded evidence of the camping trip but not the campers. Ramirez told NBC News that one of the trucks was discovered in Ingram “against a tree, crushed and flipped, not far from the campground.”
With five of his family members still missing, Ramirez is living “minute to minute, second to second,” he said.
That, and he is attempting to remain strong for the sake of others.
“I am the only boy, so I am trying to hold it together for the rest of the family,” he explained to NBC.
According to NBC News, CNN, and The Washington Post, more than 50 people have been killed by flash floods as of Sunday, July 6. This includes 28 adults and 15 children.
The death toll has steadily increased since Friday, and many people remain missing, including several young girls from Camp Mystic near the Guadalupe River.
According to CNN, much of the flooding has occurred along the river, which connects Kerr County to San Antonio Bay. According to the outlet, the region received “more than an entire summer’s worth of rain” in just a few hours.
According to NOAA data, the river reached 34.76 feet around noon local time on July 4.
The NOAA called the flooding “disastrous” and “life-threatening,” stating that it spread “over a mile across in some areas, flooding many homes,” including “some to the roof.”
