Two weeks after a devastating flood tore through Wimberley, Danny Green and Kyle Anderson went to see the small town 50 miles north of San Antonio.
They drove down River Road and saw the massive cypress trees snapped and stripped of their bark. They saw pillars and foundations that remained of what were once homes.
And they met the volunteers who have spent the past 16 days cleaning up the town and providing relief.
Green and Anderson spent the day in Wimberley on Tuesday, meeting with volunteers and relief workers to hear their stories.
Sixteen days had passed since more than 200 homes were destroyed, and another 1,000 were damaged. At least nine people have died from the Wimberley floods, with crews still searching for two children who are considered missing.
“We just want more than anything to build these people’s spirits,” Green said. “They’re sticking together, giving back and working through as a community, and we just listened to stories of recovery.”
There was no media present as Green and Anderson sat down with a true team in Team Rubicon, a group founded by military veterans that’s currently in Wimberley providing disaster relief. Rubicon Incident Commander Bob Obernier took Green and Anderson through his team’s efforts since they arrived in Texas.
They met a true coach in pastor Rob Campbell, who opened the doors at Cypress Creek Church to up to 2,000 volunteers a day after the flood. And All-Stars? They met dozens of volunteers who were organizing donations or cleaning up the damage.
“Wimberley has always been known as a volunteer community,” Campbell said. “This flood has been devastating, but the community response has been incredible.”
Anderson could only shake his head when he heard the story of the McComb, Carey and Charba families, who were in a house that was swept away. Eight of the victims are from the three Corpus Christi families that were in Wimberley for a reunion.
“They were on the phone with their families, saying their goodbyes,” Green said. “That’s unimaginable.”
After meeting with crews cleaning up debris on River Road, Green and Anderson went over to a basketball court in a packed gym, only Bridges Gym at Wimberley High School has temporarily been renamed Bridges Relief Center. The gym was packed with clothing, toiletries and donations from thousands of people from Texas and beyond.
“We started with five bags,” said volunteer Traci Linker. “Now, we’ve filled the whole gym. But we still need more volunteers.”
Volunteers are organizing at the gym and at the Ace Hardware near the center of town. For more on how to donate, visit: www.facebook.com/wimberleyflood2015
“You hear about disasters and see it on the news,” Anderson said. “But when you see the houses gone, the trees uprooted, and you see up close what was lost, we just want to do whatever we can to help.”
lchan@attcenter.com