Fox News star Will Cain couldn’t maintain his composure Monday during an emotional interview with a mother desperately searching for her daughter among the more than 100 victims of the devastating Texas floods.
Cain visibly held back tears while speaking with Tanya Powell, who is searching for her 21-year-old daughter Ella Cahill and her boyfriend Aidan, both missing since flash floods swept through Central Texas early Friday morning.
The couple, high school sweethearts who graduated from Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School, were among friends staying in a house that was suddenly destroyed by the rushing waters.
Powell received a harrowing phone call around 4:00 a.m. Friday as the disaster unfolded.
“[Aidan] then said that he needed to help Ella because she was struggling to stay on their own front porch and he handed the phone to another friend, Joyce, and Joyce said they just got washed away and she said, ‘tell my parents that I love them.’ And then that’s the last we’ve heard from them. And the entire house is gone, it’s just a slab left. So we’re just desperately just trying to find [Ella],” Powell said tearfully.
Two of Ella’s friends, Joyce and Reese, have been found deceased. Joyce’s family confirmed her body’s recovery Monday, saying they had found their daughter “who blessed [them] for 21 years.”
Powell described her missing daughter as a “sweet, kind-hearted soul” who had planned to go on a mission trip to Guatemala.
“She was just a smart, beautiful, just very kind-hearted and grateful girl and it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I guess I’m not supposed to understand everything,” Powell said.
The emotional exchange left Cain choked up and struggling for words.
“Yeah, I think we’re all struggling to understand,” Cain said. “But listen, thank you for sharing your story with us. I know that putting Ella’s picture up and hopefully helping finding Ella is part of your motivation. We appreciate you doing that and I hope in some small way, we can be of help and of course, you have our prayers, everyone watching.”
The devastating floods have now claimed at least 104 lives across six counties in Texas, with 84 deaths in Kerr County alone, including 56 adults and 28 children.
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The White House has forcefully defended the federal response to the disaster against political and media criticisms.
“Unfortunately, in the wake of this once in a generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer and some members of the media, blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.
She provided a detailed timeline showing the National Weather Service issued warnings beginning July 3, saying the agency “did its job despite unprecedented rainfall.”
“Any person who has deliberately lied about these facts surrounding this catastrophic event, you should be deeply ashamed at this time,” Leavitt added. “The administration’s focus will be on giving the victims in their communities the support they deserve during these recovery efforts in this tragic time.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has demanded that the Commerce Department’s inspector general investigate whether staffing shortages at National Weather Service offices contributed to the death toll. In a letter to acting inspector general Roderick Anderson, Schumer called for an immediate investigation into “the scope, breadth, and ramifications of whether staffing shortages at key local National Weather Service (NWS) stations contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding.”
The tragedy has been particularly devastating for Camp Mystic, a 99-year-old Christian summer camp for girls where 27 campers and counselors died. The camp is “grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors,” according to a statement on its website that said, “Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly.”
Among the victims were 8-year-old twins Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence and sisters Blair and Brooke Harber, ages 13 and 11, who were found holding hands and their rosaries when their bodies were recovered 15 miles downstream.
The Guadalupe River rose more than 26 feet in just 45 minutes around 4:00 a.m. Friday, wiping away homes, cabins, and RV parks. Search and rescue teams, including volunteers on horseback and technical rescue crews, continue combing through debris fields looking for the dozens still missing.
“The National Weather Service office in Austin, San Antonio, Texas, conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in the morning and issued a flood watch in the early afternoon,” Leavitt said. “And the National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio and the surrounding areas, had extra staff on duty during the storms, despite claims to the contrary.”
President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration Sunday and plans to visit the affected areas Friday.
Trump told Senator Ted Cruz, R-T.X., who cut short a family vacation in Greece to return to the Lone Star State, “Anything Texas needs, the answer is yes.”