Carl Jeter heard the screams early Friday morning as he was surveying the flood damage on the deck of his home in Center Point, Texas. When he went to investigate, he saw a young woman sitting in the branches of a tree above racing floodwaters.
Mr. Jeter went to find help. Two boats from the fire departments in Boerne and the Center arrived. Rescuers climbed up the tree and tossed the woman a life jacket that she put on before releasing her grip on the branches and dropping into a raft.
Her survival story was even more remarkable than her rescue. She had been camping with her family in Ingram, 20 miles up river, when she was suddenly swept into the rising river before dawn and carried downstream for miles.
“She was dodging R.V.s and refrigerators and all kinds of things in the river,” Mr. Jeter said. “She crossed four dams and went under bridges to get here.”
Mr. Jeter, 70, said the flooding was the worst he had ever seen in the flood-prone region, and he was shocked the woman managed to survive the storm, which caused the Guadalupe River near his home to rise more than 20 feet in less than two hours.
Mr. Jeter said he brought the woman into his house and gave her hot chocolate and a shower before helping her telephone her family members. Then she was taken to a local hospital where she spent the night and remained on Saturday. Her current condition is unknown, said Chris Shadrock, spokesman for the city of Boerne.
It wasn’t clear what happened to her family members. At least 32 people died from the Central Texas floods and many more were missing, officials said Saturday morning.
Rescuers from the city of Boerne rescued seven more individuals on Friday, according to Mr. Shadrock. On Saturday, water levels had lowered, though flash flood warnings were still in effect in some parts of Central Texas.
Pooja Salhotra covers breaking news across the United States.
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