When the Guadalupe River surged through Texas Hill Country last summer, Elida Sierra Lutz and her three children were swept into the deadly flooding. The family fought for three hours to stay alive after more than a summer’s worth of rain fell overnight, pushing the waterway from about 3 feet to 30 feet in just 45 minutes.

Recovery Efforts

After the flood receded, recovery efforts ramped up. Dondi Voigt Persyn, a mother of three and grandmother of four from Boerne, Texas, joined as a volunteer. She enlisted the help of her best friend, DeAnna, and together they created a Facebook group called FOUND on the Guadalupe River, where people could post about items they had lost or found.

The group quickly gained traction, with strangers banding together to reunite flood survivors with their lost belongings. Photos of wallets, textiles, sports equipment, and other items filled the page, and volunteers worked tirelessly to clean, dry, and restore the recovered items.

Elida, who had lost many of her family’s belongings in the flood, was able to recover some of their items through the Facebook group. She arranged a private pickup of her 10-year-old daughter’s white Crocs, her son’s black hoodie and glasses, and her daughter’s lifejacket.

The recovery efforts not only helped to reunite people with their lost belongings but also provided a sense of community and support for those affected by the flood. The warehouse where the volunteers worked became a safe space for survivors to share their stories and connect with others who had gone through similar experiences.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.