CENTER POINT, Texas – A woman who was swept away by the fast-rising flood waters of the Guadalupe River not only survived the raging water for more than 15 miles, but she also held on to a tree for hours until she could be rescued.
The water swept Devyn and the rest of her family away, but she’s the only one so far to be found.
Devyn Smith, from Midland, Texas, spent the Fourth of July holiday with her family. They decided to take a long weekend tent camping at the HTR TX Campground in Kerrville.
The group consisted of six people in total:
- Devyn Smith (rescued)
- Kyndall Ramos (sister)
- Tasha Ramos (mom)
- Joel Ramos (dad)
- Cody Crossland (uncle)
- Michelle “Shellie Crossland (aunt)
Early Friday morning, catastrophic flash flooding caused the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet in 45 minutes.
“They woke up sometime around four or five o’clock in the morning, she was uncertain of the exact time, and there was already water in the tent," said Travis Reynolds, who is Devyn’s uncle. “They were tent camping on the river and they got up, they got out of the tents and were trying to get into the cars."
While in their vehicles, water surrounded them and stalled out one of their SUVs.
Devyn was in the SUV, stranded in the water. When they tried to get out and swim to higher ground, she was among the ones swept away.
“Devyn said that Joel was just encouraging them that, you know, ‘It’s gonna be okay. We got help coming. Like, Cody’s called 911, we’re gonna be fine.’ And then the water took Joel and swept him away,” Reynolds said, speaking of the conversations with Devyn. “Her and her mom, they hung on for a little while longer before they were swept away.”
For roughly 15 to 20 miles, Devyn somehow survived the raging flood waters traveling from Kerrville to Center Point, where she finally grabbed on to a tree.
“She noted that there was a refrigerator that multiple times had taken her under and debris that kept trying to pull her underwater until she finally was able to get up into the tree,” Reynolds said.
It wasn’t until 10 a.m. that Carl Jeter heard Devyn calling for help from a tree in his backyard.
He called 911, and rescue crews helped her to safety.
Carl welcomed Devyn into their home, giving her a hot shower, clean clothes, food and helped her reach her family in other parts of Texas.
“Absolute miracle,” Jeter told KPRC 2’s Gage Goulding on a phone call. “Without God, there’s no way you could’ve done that.”
Devyn was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The search continues for her family, who have not been seen since being swept away by the flood waters.
