His wife, Julia, along with their two young sons, are still missing in the aftermath of the disaster. Their daughter, who was luckily staying at a nearby summer camp, is safe and unharmed.
“The kids were so excited to be here.” she said, remembering the joy and excitement the children had before the tragedy struck.
“We heard people screaming throughout the night.” she recalled. “The cabins from the RV park next door came floating, and they were getting smashed against the trees.”
She shared how she had just closed her other business, Howdy’s Bar, around 12:45 a.m. Friday morning when heavy rain began falling.
“About 2:30 a.m., I couldn’t sleep. I went all the way to the edge of the water, and I looked down at the river, and it was fine.” she said, describing how calm the river still looked at that moment.
Just an hour later, she and her husband were jolted awake by the bright flashing lights of the rescue crews arriving at the RV park.
On Sunday, eight bodies were found on her property. Two young girls were also discovered trapped under debris. Meanwhile, the RV park next door had 40 people reported missing, she said.
“I don’t understand why we don’t have alarms blaring in every single property or every mile down the road.” she said. “But something needs to change. Hopefully I’ll never get to see this in my lifetime.”
“Nobody ever remembers a flood this bad. I have friends who are 90 years old and they don’t remember a flood that bad.”