Quick-thinking officers rescued hundreds as Texas flooding began: 'Could have been so much worse,' police say
As the floodwaters rushed into Kerrville, Texas, under the cover of darkness on Friday morning, officers jumped into action to evacuate over 100 homes and rescue more than 200 people in one hour, the police department said.
The officers "realized that areas of town that traditionally don't flood were going to flood, and that low-lying areas close to the river were in danger," Kerrville police community services officer Jonathan Lamb said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Officers went "door-to-door, waking people up, convincing them that, 'Yes, the floodwaters are coming, and you need to leave now,'" Lamb said. "They rescued people out of vehicles. They rescued people out of homes that were already flooding, pulling them out of windows."
"One officer was there by himself, and he realized, 'I need help.' He sounded a siren, driving up and down those streets that were beginning to flood, calling on his PA system for folks to wake up and evacuate," he said. "And then two other officers joined him -- through, first, thigh-deep, then waist-deep, then chest-deep water -- as they went from RVs [to] trailers and rescued people, carrying them safety through the water."
Lamb said the tragedy would have been worse without officers’ quick thinking.
"I don't know how many lives our KPD team saved in an hour in Kerrville. But I know that this tragedy, as horrific as it is, could have been so much worse," he said.
Lamb commended one officer in particular who he said worked around the clock since Friday morning's flooding and was then sent home to rest on Tuesday.
"But rather than taking a day off, a much well-deserved day off, he got up and he put on his gear, and he volunteered to go out on foot with a ground search party, and he spent his day up and down the Guadalupe River, going over, under, around trees, searching for victims to try and reunite the missing with their families," he said.
Friday morning's catastrophic flooding has claimed the lives of at least 95 people in Kerr County, including 36 children, officials said on Wednesday.
The county said 161 people remain missing.
