(The Center Square) – At a legislative hearing on the July 4 deadly flooding, lawmakers heard from residents who said they are finding hip bones, fingers, limbs and body parts of people who died from the July 4 flash flood and authorities are largely absent in their communities.
Sandy Creek residents gave examples of Travis County failures at all levels previously reported by The Center Square. Ingram Lake residents said the lake has become a graveyard full of body parts that needs to be cleaned out.
The majority of Sandy Creek residents are elderly and on fixed incomes, resident Auburne Gallagher said. She said volunteers are the only ones cleaning debris and protecting residents from looting. She also said the number of people reported missing by Travis County is wrong because officials aren’t counting those missing from 20 homeless encampments and a great number of illegal foreign nationals who were living there.
When lawmakers asked her if any cleanup in Sandy Creek had begun, she replied only by volunteers who first came on July 6. “Nobody came. No resources. Nobody came for us,” she said through sobs.
Sandy Creek resident Ashley Willis said there has been zero flood mitigation in the area, no monitoring of tributaries, and dams on private land broke. “The level of damage is catastrophic. Whose job is it to monitor and fix this?” she asked.
She also said there is no statewide standard for emergency management personnel. “As a real estate agent, I have hours of course work I have to take yearly and tests that I have to take just to be a licensed fiduciary. It’s not my job to save lives.”
She also raised concerns about health hazards and water contamination because of decomposing bodies.
“They are marking people found when they find their body parts and they match their DNA,” she said. “And they are not coming back to find people. I found a hip in the lake on my property. We did that, volunteers, not the county.”
Travis County realtor and general contractor Melanie Strong said she brought in shipping containers, tents and security to help residents clear their properties and protect against looting. Sandy Creek residents “were left in the dark. No one came,” she said. She also said she repeatedly contacted Texas Department of Public Safety to help them.
“No emergency services came and 911 calls went unanswered,” she said. “An entire pallet of donated chainsaws disappeared overnight. DPS didn’t send anyone.”
Debris has been removed by volunteers, not by anyone in the government, several witnesses said. They also said residents need immediate temporary housing, transportation and large equipment to remove debris.
Ingram Lake resident Ann Carr said there are body parts, vehicles and RVs in the lake that need to be removed.
Since the flood, “our lake has become a toxic pit. We talked to divers who have been out there. We asked them questions: ‘are there bodies that are out there?’ Their answer was, ‘yes.’ There are vehicles and RVs in the lake. I was told by [Kerr County] Judge[Rob] Kelly that the lake would be drained. I read a week later in the Kerrville Daily Times that there is no money from the state to drain the lake.
“We have $27 billion in a rainy day fund. The lake is the heart of the city. It brings money to the city. We have people who come in and boat and fish. We are a poor community. We have to remove the bodies.”
Speaking to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, she said, “you said … ‘we’ve got to do all we can, we’ve got to protect the public.’ … We need your help. With $27 billion I think the state of Texas can reach down and help us clean our lakes out. …
“We have six feet of rubble that’s invaded our lake and it’s become a graveyard.”
