Two young sisters killed in the Texas Hill Country floods were found with “their hands locked together,” family members revealed.
Blair and Brooke Harber, 13 and 11, sadly died during a family trip to Casa Bonita, a gated community in the town of Hunt, when the devastating floods swept through in the early hours of Friday.
Their father, RJ Harber, was woken around 3:30AM by pounding rain and rising water pouring through their cabin door, his sister Jennifer told KLOU.
Around that same time, Brooke sent a text to her father and grandparents, simply writing, “I love you,” Jennifer shared on a GoFundMe page for the family.
RJ and his wife, Annie, smashed a window in a desperate attempt to reach the girls, who were staying in a separate cabin.
As floodwaters blocked their path, they ran to a neighbor’s house, waking the family to borrow a kayak to try to paddle through the flood to their daughters. But the water was too rough, and RJ and Annie were eventually rescued along with five neighbors.
The sisters’ bodies were found 12 hours later, 15 miles away, “with their hands locked together,” Jennifer told KLOU.
The siblings were remembered as kind, faith-filled children who took their rosary beads with them on the trip. “[Blair] was a gifted student and had a generous kind heart. [Brooke] was like a light in any room, people gravitated to her and she made them laugh and enjoy the moment,” RJ told CNN.
Their grandparents, Mike and Charlene Harber, remain missing as search efforts continue.
The Harbers had been staying in separate cabins during the trip, with Mike and Charlene using a neighbor’s more spacious home to be near the girls.
The tragedy that claimed Blair and Brooke’s lives is part of a wider disaster that has killed at least 81 people across Texas, with dozens more still missing.
Among the hardest-hit sites was Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp in Kerr County, where at least 27 people died, including five campers. Camp directors Richard “Dick” Eastland and Jane Ragsdale also died while trying to protect campers as floodwaters surged.
One man named Julian Ryan died while trying to save his fiancée, Christinia Wilson, and their two young children from their flooded home in Ingram.
“It just started pouring in, and we had to fight the door to get it closed to make sure not too much got in,” Wilson told KHOU, explaining how the couple put their six-year-old son and 13-month-old daughter on a floating mattress as water filled the bedroom.
As the water continued to rise, the 27-year-old punched through a window to help his family escape, but suffered a severe injury in the process. “It severed his artery in his arm and almost cut it clean off,” Wilson said.
Before Ryan’s tragic death, his final words were, “I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all.”
“He was a good man,” his heartbroken partner told PEOPLE. “He was strong and loving and always happy. He tried to save us, and we will forever be grateful and miss him. He’s still with us, and I see him every day in our son.”
Our thoughts continue to be with everyone affected by this horrific tragedy.