What was supposed to be quality family time turned out to be one of the most disastrous times in Hays County, Texas as an emergency coordinator revealed on Monday that at least 12 people remain missing following heavy rains and sudden flooding over the long weekend, reported CNN.
Included in the dozen people still reported missing are a mother and her two kids. WHNT News 19 reveals that Laura McComb, as well as her 6-six-year-old son, Andrew, and 4-year-old daughter, Leighton, remain missing since Sunday.
The family's patriarch, Jonathan McComb, is currently confined in a hospital, healing from broken bones and a collapsed lung. Jonathan was found roughly 12 miles from a river house, which is believed to have been rented by the family for the weekend.
The onslaught of heavy rain resulted in the death of at least four people -- with three casualties from Texas and one from Oklahoma -- and the destruction of numerous houses. Two main bridges were also destroyed by the natural disaster.
"We do have whole streets that have maybe one or two houses left on them, and the rest are just slabs," shared Kharley Smith, an emergency management coordinator.
KSAT reports that one of the Texas residents who passed away due to the weather was an 18-year-old high school student named Alyssa Ramirez. She was a senior student at Devine High School, and was recently-hailed homecoming queen last October. According to one of the school counselors, Ramirez was heading home when she was caught by flood waters while driving her car on FM 2200.
As officials from both Texas and Oklahoma attempt to have things under control, it appears that the problem could not be resolved easily as everyone in the area is still reeling over the unexpected onset of record-breaking rains.
In addition, the areas are overwhelmed with issues concerning Internet and cellphone signals. "People outside our community know more about what's going on than people inside our community," said Ken Bell, one of the emergency coordinators from San Marcos.
Even rescue volunteers are experiencing difficulties due to severe weather conditions. Hence, some residents were rescued by helicopters as the lakes and rivers in the areas made it impossible to be accessed by land or water.
Despite the lowered warning signals, the National Weather Service still cautions everyone to remain vigilant and prepared. They went on to add that, "Only an inch or two of rainfall could quickly lead to more flash flooding concerns."
Apart from flash flooding, weather forecasts indicate the possibility of hail, tornadoes, high winds, and thunderstorms within the week. See here for a map of the latest watches from The Weather Channel.
