Corpus Christi: Friends of families arrive with supplies, »
Flood victims’ families described as loving, giving.
Friends, loved ones and supporters of the three missing families from Corpus Christi who were washed away during historic floods in Central Texas this weekend are rallying together to help in rescue efforts in any way they can.
On Tuesday, Shannon Gulley and Dorsey Shedd, two Corpus Christi residents who were friends of some of the disappeared families, began a grassroots effort to help raise money and first aid supplies for those affected by historic floods that ravaged Central Texas this weekend. Especially close to their hearts were the McCombs, Careys and Charbas — three prominent Corpus Christi families that are still considered missing.
Only one member of the party of three families who were vacationing together along the Blanco River in Wimberley has been found alive. On Wednesday, officials identified a body found Tues- day downstream in Caldwell County as 43-yearold Michelle Marie Carey-Charba. Seven other members of the three families remain missing.
By Tuesday afternoon, so many donations were rolling into relief efforts set up by Shedd and Gulley that they were preparing to open a bank account to hold them all. The two women also secured a 40-foot trailer to fill with first-aid supplies that emergency management officials had told them were desperately needed.
On Wednesday, the first of several supply runs Shedd and Gulley hope to make arrived in San Marcos. The group who brought the supplies hoped to join the search for the families in Wim- berley.
“We’re just trying to do our part because not everybody can be there with hands on,” said Shedd, who was among those who brought the supplies. “I know I’ve been on my knees praying nightly for these families.”
Shedd spoke fondly of the McCombs, saying they were “the epitome of the word family.” She had just given their 4-year-old daughter, Leighton, a teddy bear a week and a half ago.
“Wherever you saw Laura and Jonathan, you saw their children,” she said.
Gulley, a longtime friend of the Careys, said they were “fun-loving, wonderful people. Their daughter, Michelle Carey-Charba, was someone you instantly felt comfortable around.”
Clayton Duncan, a family friend of the Careys and Charbas who was speaking on their behalf, said Tuesday that “the outpouring of support from Corpus, Austin and Wimberley, and pretty much anyone that’s known these families, is unconditional and overwhelming.”
Shedd said the community is repaying the kindness the missing families have shown to their city.
“If anyone else was walking in these shoes,” she said, “they’d be doing the same thing.”