Matthew Rafferty was touring the flooded banks of Texas Hill Country last weekend when she stumbled upon a mud soaked baby. Rafferty, a Virginia firefighter who was deployed in Kerr County, beaten to help with search and recovery efforts, folded him and took him back to his hotel. He rinsed him in the bathtub. He was concerned that the drainage obstructs due to all the dirt, the roots of the trees and the rocks that came out.
But the bathtub survived and, after a trip to laundry, the quilt was practically good as new. He published a photo of the blanket in a Facebook group where people throughout the Texas center are tracking the things they have recovered from devastation: flooding clothes, teddy animals, Barbie dolls, marriage licenses, family photo albums. Rafferty finally connected with the owner of the quilt and handed it to hand.
“I am a 3 -year -old father’s father. I know that if I had gone through something like these mats, I would like to come back,” said Rafferty, 34.
Rafferty is part of a loose network of lifeguards, volunteers and good Samaritans who have advanced throughout the region to help gather the Texans with precious belongings, family relics and daily domestic domestic chucérías that were swept when floods destroy Kerr’s county during the four -year weekend, killing more than 130 people and leaving at least 100 missing.
This week, NBC News spoke with people in the region about the objects that have appeared after floods, and why they matter. In some cases, apparently trivial articles have acquired much greater emotional meaning due to mortal floods. These are some of their stories.
The jewels
Patty Hyatt was inside his mobile home with his 8 -year -old grandson and his new Beagle puppy at the beginning of July 4 when his son called. Floods raised rapidly and needed to reach a higher land as soon as possible, he said. Hyatt, a 67 -year -old retired teacher, carried everyone in his Toyota Tacoma and went to his son’s house, leaving most of his things behind.
When he returned to Old River Road RV Resort the next morning, his 42 Forest River house had disappeared, dragged by floods. She was disconsolate. “I just lost things, not loved ones,” he said, but most of the objects in his home were associated with special “memories” and regretted seeing them.
