Searchers push for closure after deadly Central Texas floods
Twenty-eight years ago, her 17-year-old son,
No one ever found him. Last week,
"I don't think I can get through it," she said when asked about her experience.
Last week's historic floods, which left a path of destruction and swept away more than a dozen people, led to a grim search along the usually scenic
Pushed by what they describe as an emotional need to help bring finality to victims' loved ones, bands of searchers walked shoulder-to-shoulder along the limestone riverbed and nearby pastures. For days, they picked their way through debris fields of huge cypress trees and lumber from homes torn off their foundations.
The searchers included professionals with experience combing through the wreckage of the
As of late last week, multiple victims remained missing, including several members of two families from
"I think recognizing with what's happening with the weather, we all know and we have accepted that they're gone,"
It is unclear how long searchers will continue their quest, but it isn't unusual after natural disasters, including floods, for days or weeks to pass before a victim's body emerges from the ruins -- or, rarer, for their remains to never be recovered.
After Hurricane Ike ravaged the
The bodies of some other victims were never found. That was the case for
Yet in most instances, even bodies trapped underwater by debris eventually will emerge, said Dr.
"Sometimes it can take time, and, with flooding, it could have started in one body of water and traveled to a completely different geographical location," she said.
In
Search began before storms subsided
The search for victims began last weekend even as the swollen river continued to engulf homes. Anticipating possible flooding, local and state emergency responders were on standby and ready to answer the call for help.
Lt.
Early on, Satsky and his crew used their boat to pluck a woman and her two golden retrievers from the second story of a home.
"It's one of those things you get immediate gratification from," Satsky said. "You see someone who survived who otherwise may not have."
Yet as hours and then days passed, and the chance for finding survivors grew dim, the focus turned to recovering bodies.
Searchers tried to keep hopes alive, and at one point midweek that feeling intensified when they found a dog belonging to
The recovery mission has been divided into three large teams made up of trained searchers, including about 90 people from
The flood presented unique challenges for searchers.
He said once
She joined a team of 20 volunteers, which combed through several large piles of debris.
"I knew Michelle would do it for me," she said. "It was sort of simple like that."
Other searchers found Carey-Charba's body that day, in neighboring
"I want them all to be found, so they can have a proper burial and be together and for closure for their families," she said. "To have some finality to this."
Missing bodies can mean legal difficulties
In addition to the emotional toll of not finding a missing loved one, the lack of a body can lead to years of legal difficulties for families. A 2003 law meant to expedite legal matters in the wake of natural disasters has been used only once, according to state officials.
The main legal obstacle families face is the lack of a death certificate, a crucial document in settling legal affairs ranging from life insurance payouts and wills to home and vehicle titles as well as marital status. Texas law calls for a seven-year waiting period before a missing person can be declared dead, putting families in a lengthy limbo. Families can petition a probate judge to declare a missing person dead if they are able to present enough circumstantial evidence of the death, speeding up the process.
But thanks to the 2003 law, in events declared a "catastrophe," as the
The law, like many others across the country, was the result of lessons learned after the 9/11 attacks, when
"We realized within two days of 9/11 that we were not going to have intact bodies and we would have a serious social problem on our hands," Scott said. "You couldn't get a life insurance policy cashed without a death certificate. It really helped people."
But even though bodies have gone missing after other Texas disasters, most notably Hurricane Ike, the
Searches take toll on searchers, too
Searchers say they are driven by the need to help families achieve closure. But extended search efforts often take an emotional toll on the searchers themselves. "On the first day (of a search and rescue operation), everyone's adrenaline is really running rampant, there's a lot of excitement," said
As the days go by, though, the stress can mount. "When you see the (family members of missing persons) involved, the depressions they go through, it's hard to detach yourself from it," he said. "Between the physical end, seeing all the destruction, and all the emotional pain, it takes a huge toll. It takes a long time to decompress."
And when searches prove unsuccessful, searchers often take it personally. "You think, 'What could I have done differently? What could we have done differently?' It stays with you for a long time," he said. "We work through this stuff, almost like a group therapy session. We talk about all these things."
According to the
"The emotional pain and stress is far worse than any physical pain we go through," Miller said. "It's always in our mind. Many of our people have sleepless nights."
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