Matthew Rafferty was scouring the flooded riverbanks of Texas Hill Country last weekend when he stumbled on a mud-soaked baby quilt. Rafferty, a Virginia firefighter who was deployed to hard-hit Kerr County to help with search and recovery efforts, folded it up and took it back to his hotel. He rinsed it off in the bathtub. He worried the drain might clog because of all the filth, tree roots and rocks that came out.
But the tub survived and, after a trip to the laundromat, the quilt was virtually good as new. He posted a photo of the blanket on a Facebook group where people across central Texas are keeping track of things they’ve recovered from the devastation: waterlogged clothes, stuffed animals, Barbie dolls, marriage licenses, family photo albums. Rafferty eventually connected with the quilt’s owner and hand-delivered it to her.
“I’m a father of 3-year-old twin boys. I know if I’d gone through something like these quilts, I’d want it back,” said Rafferty, 34.
Rafferty is part of a loose network of first responders, volunteers and good Samaritans who have fanned out across the region to help reunite Texans with the cherished belongings, family heirlooms and everyday household knickknacks that were swept away when floods ripped through Kerr County over Fourth of July weekend, killing more than 130 people and leaving at least 100 missing.
This week, NBC News spoke with people in the region about the objects that have turned up in the floods’ aftermath — and why they matter. In some cases, seemingly trivial items have taken on far greater emotional significance in the wake of the deadly floods. These are some of their stories.
The jewelry
Patty Hyatt was inside her mobile home with her 8-year-old grandson and her new beagle puppy early July 4 when her son called. The floodwaters were rising fast and they needed to get to higher ground as soon as possible, he told her. Hyatt, a 67-year-old retired teacher, loaded everyone into her Toyota Tacoma and headed to her son’s house, leaving most of her things behind.
When she returned to the Old River Road RV Resort the following morning, her 42-foot Forest River home was gone, washed away by the floods. She was heartbroken. “I just lost stuff, not loved ones,” she said — but most objects in her home were associated with special “memories” and she was sorry to see them go.
