Dallas Sisters Found Holding Hands After Deadly Hill Country Floods

Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, are sisters from Dallas. They were found dead holding on to each other after the terrible floods that hit Kerr County early Friday morning.

Jennifer Harber, the girls' aunt, says that the waters took them away from the house in the Hunt area where they were living with their grandparents, Mike and Charlene Harber. The Harbers are still missing. The sisters' bodies were found about 12 hours later, 15 miles downstream in Kerrville. They were still holding rosaries and their hands were locked together, which was a sad reminder of how they died.

Around 3:30 a.m. on Friday, heavy rains woke up the family in the gated Casa Bonita neighborhood to the terrible events. At 3:30 a.m., Brooke sent her last text message, which simply said, "I love you." It was the last message they sent before the floods flooded their home.

Blair and Brooke's dad, R.J. Harber, put them to bed at 11 p.m. the night before. As the rain got worse, he went upstairs to check on them. Mike and Charlene Harber were sleeping in a guest bedroom downstairs at the same time. As the water rose, the family attempted to escape by breaking a window. The water was growing at a rate of about one foot per minute.

R.J. begged his neighbors for help, waking up two and borrowing a kayak, but the flood was too strong to get through. He was desperate to save his family. After slogging through cold water, R.J., his wife Annie, and a few other people had to run away. They found safety in a house across a flooded highway.

Jennifer said that the escapees almost died of hypothermia while electrical generators blew up all around them, lighting up the night. Luckily, the family's Labrador was able to find them after they escaped from the house that was underwater.

Unfortunately, the family's other dog did not survive. Jennifer said that only a few of the 20 homes in the gated neighborhood were still standing after the damage.

The sisters attended Dallas's St. Rita Catholic Community School, where a shared funeral would be held. Jen works for Southwest Airlines and has agreed to fly the girls home. 

There are no details about the funeral yet because the family is still looking for the girls' missing grandparents and hoping for closure in their unbearable grief.

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