Tag: Wimberley

Rescued Black Lab Saves Dog Dad from Texas Flood

Zeva, a Black Lab mix rescued from a shelter four years ago, is usually a fairly quiet dog.

But the night of May 24, as floodwater rushed into her home on the Blanco River in Wimberley, Texas, Zeva wouldn’t stop barking.

“She had a penetrating bark. Enough to wake me up, and the water was already three feet,” her dog dad, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, John, told FOX 7 News. “In another 10 minutes, it was another four feet.”

John, Zeva and a friend climbed up to the attic. The water was soon reaching the second story of the house.

“You’d look down and see big tree trunks coming through here, furniture, everything, and it was just roaring,” John told FOX 7.

The Blanco River rose 40 feet that night, sweeping away 12 people. Among them were three members of the McComb family, whose dog was found alive in a tree.

After six hours, a rescue crew finally arrived at John’s house. John refused to leave without his dog. “It was harder getting her out then getting her up,” he said. All three were safely evacuated from the attic.

By the next day, the house had been extensively damaged, yet its frame was still standing. John hasn’t decided whether to rebuild.

One thing he knows for certain is that Zeva is a hero. “She’s my best friend,” he told FOX 7.

Photo via Facebook

Click here for information about how to help some of the animal shelters and rescues affected by the severe weather in Texas.

Dog Belonging to Missing Texas Family Found Alive in Tree

The four-legged member of a Texas family swept away by floodwaters has been found alive.

Maggie, a yellow Lab, was rescued Sunday after a resident spotted her in a tree near the Blanco River in Wimberley, the Statesman reports.

Maggie belongs to the McComb family of Corpus Christi, who were spending Memorial Day weekend with eight other people in a house on the Blanco River when the devastating flooding occurred Saturday night.

Jonathan McComb was rescued, but his wife, Laura, and their two young children, Andrew and Leighton, are still missing, along with the others who were staying in the house.

Laura called her sister, Julie Shields, about 1 a.m. Sunday, Shields told KVUE. She said she was in a house floating down the river.

“Tell mom and dad, ‘I love you,’ and pray,” she told Shields.

Jonathan told Shields everyone had been holding hands inside the house, which broke off its wooden stilts and was swept down the raging river. When the house struck a bridge and broke apart, Jonathan was separated from the others.

Rescue crews found him on a riverbank several miles from where the house once stood. He suffered a collapsed lung, and broken sternum and rib, and is being treated at a San Antonio hospital.

“He is absolutely devastated,” Shields told KVUE. “He did everything he possibly could to save them.”

With the assistance of FEMA’s Texas Task Force One, crews are using search-and-rescue dogs, infrared technology, drones and boat squads in the effort to find those still missing. Kiii News reported today that 22 volunteer teams comprised of 250 people are also assisting in the search effort.

[UPDATE: Tragically, the bodies of Laura and Andrew have been found. Four-year-old Leighton is still missing.] 

Angela Clendenin, a spokeswoman for the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team, said finding Maggie alive was “just amazing.”

“It’s just a good part of that story,” she told the Statesman.

Here’s how you can help animal shelters affected by the severe weather in Texas.

Photos via Facebook; Twitter

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