While community members gathered Wednesday night to remember the 13 people who died in last week’s flash flooding, city and county officials requested state assistance to support long-term recovery efforts.
Severe storms in the San Antonio area dumped 6.12 inches of rain June 11-12, making it the 10th rainiest day on record in San Antonio.
San Antonio Fire Department officials confirmed 11 fatalities in the Loop 410/Perrin Beitel Road area, where fast-moving flood waters swept stranded vehicles into Beitel Creek.
A 12th victim was found a few miles north in the Wurzbach Parkway area, and a 13th victim was found in the Leon Creek area on the West Side. Fire department officials said many survivors were rescued from trees and bushes.
As of Thursday, Bexar County officials had identified the following fatalities: Derwin Anderson, 43; Victor Manuel Macias Castro, 28; Roseann Cobb, 41; Martha De La Torre Rangel, 55; Rangel’s son Josue Pina De La Torre, 28; Rudy Garza, 61; Cristine Gonzalez, 29; Stevie Richards, 42; Brett Riley, 63; Andrew Sanchez, 60; Matthew Tufono, 51; and Carlos Valdez III, 67.
The city of San Antonio and Bexar County on Tuesday issued a joint disaster declaration, with local leaders asking the state of Texas to evaluate the flooding event and determine whether the city and county and other affected communities can formally request federal aid.
According to a news release, the city and county are specifically seeking the state’s help with cleaning and stabilizing roadways, waterways and drainage infrastructure affected by last week’s flooding.
“The magnitude of this disaster requires state-level support. Our community is resilient, but we cannot do this alone,” then-Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement.
Additionally, the city and county are asking Gov. Greg Abbott to issue successive declarations given the potential for future strong storms that may affect the San Antonio area, the release stated.
“In the aftermath of the unprecedented storms that resulted in the tragic loss of 13 lives, we are taking action to ensure that we have the necessary resources for our community’s recovery,” County Judge Peter Sakai said in a statement.
Meanwhile, local organizations are offering assistance to families who are mourning loved ones who died in last week’s storm. More than 100 people gathered Wednesday outside the office of nonprofit San Antonio Aware and Prepared, near Leon Valley, for a candlelight vigil.
SAAP and another local nonprofit, Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach, hosted the vigil, giving community members an opportunity to remember the 13 flood victims, and show solidarity with the affected families.
Both host organizations provide various kinds of relief to people facing specific challenges or tragedies like the flooding. Pamela Allen, CEO of Eagles Flight, said the community is praying for and thinking about the grieving families.
Allen added that her organization and other groups will try to help lessen the burdens facing the victims’ families via counseling and financial resources.
“I can tell you that when we say we’re going to help, we will absolutely help,” Allen told the crowd.
New Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones addressed vigil attendees, expressing condolences on behalf of the city. She also promised the city will understand what all factored into the fatal flooding.
“We are going to do everything possible to make sure we provide you with answers. They might not be good answers,” she said. “But we are going to do everything we can to ensure that we are doing what we can do to move forward and keep folks safe.”
A few family members and friends of those killed in the floods spoke out. Tyson Tufono, son of Matthew Tufono, said despite the pain that he and others are feeling, it is important for surviving families to connect with each other to know that they are not alone, and hold strong to their spiritual beliefs.
“We all got things that we need to do. Don’t let this break you all,” Tufono said. “My dad believed in God. He believed that everything happens in accordance to God’s will. So, as unfortunate as this might be, I’ll say it again — do not let this break you all. Life will go on.”
Brittany Guerrero said she and her family are grateful for the condolences, prayers and support offered by the community in the wake of her father Rudy Garza’s death. She said her father managed a brief phone call to her mother when the fast, oncoming flood waters surrounded his car.
“I’ve seen comments about ‘turn around, don’t drown,’ but my mom was on that call, and there was no turning around. It was too fast. I called within a minute, and he had been swept away,” Guerrero said. She also encouraged authorities to mitigate flooding in the Perrin Beitel/Loop 410 area.
“I’m sorry that we’re all gathering like this, but we will stick together and we won’t stop until the road is fixed the way it should have been fixed long ago,” Guerrero said. “It won’t help my father, but it will help somebody else’s loved one.”
Destiny Giles, a friend of Derwin Anderson’s family, recalled Anderson as protective, loving, strong, caring and a military veteran who enjoyed helping other people or putting a smile on someone’s face.
Giles implored the affected families to stay strong and stand with each other.
“Speak love and power into each other,” Giles said. “All the families who lost someone get together and exchange contact information because we are going to have to do this together.”
As vigil attendees cried and hugged each other, Edgardo Olaiz, a motorist who survived last week’s flood, shared a few words with the audience.
Olaiz said he did not know any of the people who died, but he wanted to extend condolences to the grieving families, in spite of the emotion surrounding the vigil.
“It’s very hard for me right now, I’m sorry. I feel so bad and I feel so guilty that I got out for some reason,” Olaiz said. “My prayers go out to you. I love you all.“
