The tight-knit community of Kerrville, Texas is reeling after flash floods claimed the lives of 13-year-old Blair Harber and her 11-year-old sister Brooke, while their grandparents remain missing. The girls were discovered 15 miles downstream from their grandparents’ riverside home, their hands still clasped together – a heartbreaking testament to their unbreakable bond.
Their parents, R.J. and Annie Harber, survived the early morning deluge only to face every parent’s worst nightmare. “They woke to water filling their home,” explained Jennifer Harber, the girls’ aunt. “By the time they broke through a window, the current was too strong to reach the girls.” The desperate parents borrowed a neighbor’s kayak, but the raging waters proved impossible to navigate.
Family photos shared on a GoFundMe page – which has raised over $169,000 – show the vibrant sisters smiling in sundresses and posing in matching Christmas pajamas with their grandparents. In a chilling detail, Brooke had texted “I love you” to family members just before the waters rose. The deeply spiritual sisters, who often carried rosaries, will be laid to rest together at St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas.
As search teams continue looking for Mike and Charlene Harber, the girls’ grandparents, the tragedy forms part of a larger disaster that has claimed at least 81 lives across central Texas. At Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp on the Guadalupe River, floodwaters rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, claiming several young lives including the camp’s longtime director.
