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Two families inside as home is washed away by floodwaters in Texas

WIMBERLEY, Texas — The vacation house where two families were going to spend Memorial Day Weekend was already gone, swept down the swollen Blanco River, when Carissa Smith's husband arrived.

All he found was a Chevrolet Suburban slammed against a tree, the engine running.

The fate of those who were inside the home was still unclear Tuesday.

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Recovery teams were to resume looking for eight people who were staying at the two-story house in the small town of Wimberley, Texas.

Among them was Laura McComb, who was on the phone with her sister as the house was carried into the river.

"We are in a house that is now floating down the river," she said. "Call Mom and Dad. I love you. And pray." Julie Shields told NBC affiliate KXAN the call ended when Laura thought she saw a light from a helicopter that had come to rescue them.

"And I just expected to go to the Wimberley High School the next day and find her," Shields said. "And then when she wasn't there, I knew something was very, very wrong."

According to NBC News, Jonathan and Laura McComb were staying there with their two children, Andrew, 7, and Leighton, 4.

They were with Ralph and Sue Carey; their daughter, Michelle Charba; her husband, Randy; and their 4-year-old son, Will.

Jonathan McComb, Laura's husband, survived and was found miles from where the home stood. He suffered a collapsed lung, a broken sternum and broken ribs, his father told NBC News.

Joe McComb, relating a story told to him by his son, told NBC News the house struck a bridge and smashed apart, sending everyone inside in different directions.

"He said there were several times where he was under water and he didn't think he was going to come up," Joe McComb said.

Bent concrete pylons and a few scattered horseshoes remained on the home's limestone slab.

At the top of a small slope that had led down to the house, the back wheels of a Suburban dangled above a ditch and its tailgate was smashed against a tree.

Smith, who owns the land next door, said the car belonged to the homeowner.

"We think he went back in to get everybody out. Problem is, the house is up on stilts, so when they climb down the stairs, they had to climb into the water to get out," said Smith, whose aunt and mother both live nearby.

"And I'm sure they realized that when they got in there, it was too late."

Punishing rains and other severe weather have destroyed or damaged more than 1,000 homes and killed at least four people statewide over the long holiday weekend.

An estimated 350 to 400 homes were destroyed in Wimberley, and about 1,000 homes were damaged throughout Hays County.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

WPXI

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