Hunt family shares story, video of narrow escape from deadly flood

HUNT, Texas - A Hunt, Texas family has shared their story, along with some haunting video, of their experience in the deadly Fourth of July flooding in the Texas Hill Country.

Hunt, Texas attic hideout

Jane Towler recorded video of her flooded home as she and her family scrambled to survive one week ago in Hunt, Texas.

Towler’s son, Alden, described climbing to high shelter along with a family friend and her 1-year-old daughter. 

What they're saying:

"We got up on the counter here and climbed up these shelves into the attic hatch," Alden said.

"This had a metal vent. I was able to bash this out, and then we spent about 2.5 hours just on this little roof landing right here," Alden said, pointing outside the attic window.

Alden will never comprehend what his friend was feeling while clinging to her daughter.

"Having a 1-year-old infant in your arms as a mom, I just can't even imagine what she was going through. I think she was experiencing what I was experiencing times 10 or 100, you know, as a new mom, and so I was just trying to give her physical comfort and just reminding her, like, ‘we're gonna be okay,’ even though I didn't know we were gonna be okay," Alden said.

Flooding nearly reached them on the roof.

"And you can see the water line where it crested and stayed for about an hour was just right there," Alden said.

Alden pointed to a tree, which he says blocked a house from crashing into their home. Ultimately, the four survived.

"All of this is just too incomprehensible for me to have feelings related to this. Like my feelings are just with our surviving, and people who had much worse experiences than us," Alden said.

Alden has the fondest of memories growing up with his cousins on the Guadalupe River.

"We used to spend our whole days out here just jumping off the Bravery Tree, doing gainers off the rope swing, and that's what Hunt is about, is just being on this river and the beauty of nature," Alden said.

Now Alden has new memories, darker than he could have ever imagined. 

"The loss of human life that I witnessed, the families broken apart, the injuries, the trauma,it's all so tragic," Alden said.

Kerr County Relief Fund

In less than a week, donors all over the world have sent over $30 million to Kerr County for recovery efforts.

On Friday, $5 million was distributed to local agencies for them to use in cleaning and rebuilding after the tragedy.

What you can do:

The Community Foundation, a nonprofit group in the area, launched the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund to help support local response, relief and recovery efforts.

All donations will go right to the organizations helping with the emergency.

Those looking to donate can click here.

Resources and donations for those impacted

• Texas flooding: State, county resources, services for those affected
• Texas flooding: Resources for those impacted
• Texas flooding: Businesses, organizations donate to recovery, relief efforts
• Texas flooding: How you can help people in Kerrville

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