A volunteer Texas fire chief is missing after he was swept away by floodwaters while responding to a call for help — as horrified police officers helplessly watched on.
Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Michael Phillips vanished while driving to a water rescue on Saturday around 4:30 a.m., according to officials in Burnet County, which is about 100 miles northeast of Camp Mystic, where 27 campers and counselors died.
He was responding to a call in Cow Creek in Travis County, the officials said.
Chief Deputy Alan Trevino with the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office said police officers saw the moment Phillips’ vehicle slid off the road in the torrential flooding.
“We had our deputies traveling the county, checking low-water spots as the rain was coming in, and we had three of our own deputies that were stranded on roadways — safe but stranded — and we watched unfortunately as his vehicle did go off the roadway,” Chief Deputy Alan Trevino with the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office told CNN.
The emergency vehicle Phillips was operating was found; however, the search continues for the fire chief, according to Fox 7 Austin.
Philips is one of three people who are still unaccounted for in the county. Three people have been confirmed dead there, Trevino said.
Responders in the county have performed at least 63 rescues since the flooding occurred, Trevino said.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters at a press conference that 89 people have been confirmed killed in the historic floods that hit the region early Friday morning.
The death toll rose to more than 100 by Monday evening.
At Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp in Kerr County, 27 campers and counselors died when the Guadalupe River swelled 26 feet in less than an hour, camp officials said Monday morning.
Another 10 girls and one counselor are still missing.
Kerr County officials said Monday morning they’ve recovered 75 bodies — 48 adults and 27 children.
Cruz lamented that the camp was evacuated sooner.
“We would evacuate those in the vulnerable areas, such as younger children in the cabins, we would evacuate them sooner and get them to higher ground if we could go back,” Cruz (R-Texas) said.
