Survivor of Wimberley, Texas, flood tragedy tells what happened

A house in Wimberley, Texas, was badly damaged by the flooding Blanco River

(Image credit: Drew Anthony Smith/Getty Images)

published 28 May 2015

Jonathan McComb, 36, and his family traveled from Corpus Christi, Texas, to scenic Wimberley to spend Memorial Day with friends at a house on the Blanco River. McComb is now in a San Antonio hospital, after a flash flood washed away that house Sunday night, but he has recovered enough to tell about the disaster that left his wife, two young children, and five family friends missing or, in the case of Michelle Charba, the 43-year-old daughter of the home's owners, confirmed dead.

The group knew a storm was coming, and moved their cars to higher ground to avoid water damage, but assumed they were safe because the house was on stilts, or pylons, McComb's father, Joe McComb, told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday. About 20 minutes later, "they got a flashlight and looked out, and all of a sudden the water was up to the top of the pylons, and they realized they were trapped," he said. "They knew they were in trouble."

The house held fast under the deluge for a while, and everyone was "in the room there holding on to pieces of furniture," hoping to outlast the flood, McComb said. "All of a sudden a big thud came. I don't know if it was a big tree got uprooted and floated down the river, but it hit the pylons, the stilts, and the house was displaced."

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With the house floating downriver, Jonathan McComb's wife, Laura, got in a call to her sister in Austin, telling her family that she loves them, Joe McComb said, then "the house hit the bridge and it took the top part of the house off.... The house started just coming apart, washing people in all different directions. That's the last he saw anybody." Jonathan isn't the only known survivor — the family dog, Maggie, was found in a tree on Monday. You can read more details at the Los Angeles Times.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.