TUCSON, Ariz. — It’s been almost two weeks since the Texas floods took more than 130 lives and many more are still missing.
The devastation is being felt across the entire country, including right here in Southern Arizona.
Mariah Turpin was born in Tucson and after moving around to multiple places with her family due to her dad being in the military, she landed in Kerrville in 2021 to attend Schreiner University.
Thankfully Turpin and her two kids, 11-year-old Gracynn Turpin and 9-year-old Brayden are safe.
Turpin said she was with her mom on July 3rd and they felt like something was off.
"My mom kept telling me 'This is a weird feeling, it's gloomy, it's dark and I don't like it' and I said yeah I know mom, I really don't understand why it's like that. I feel that too," Turpin said.
When they woke up on 4th of July, she says they saw the unexpected.
“I rode with my mom while everybody was asleep. It was like 6:30, 7:00 the next day and we see ambulance, there’s fire trucks, cop cars and the bridge down the street from my house was cut off," Turpin said. "Cause the water overnight drastically went from ankle level all the way up to the bottom of the bridge."
She had to stay at her mom's in Comfort because she couldn't get to her house with all the roads blocked off.
Turpin said knowing so many lives were lost weighs heavily on her heart and she knew she needed to help.
She said her brother, who’s in the Air Force, assisted with search and rescue efforts. She, her son and her niece lent a hand passing out food and water to not only first responders, but those impacted.
“We set up I think over maybe 150 cots with blankets. There was towels, clothes, shoes, all the essentials for the children," Turpin said. "It was just really the children that day. They came in and we got it all set up with food and snacks as well. We were out there I think two and a half hours just unloading and setting up and taking stuff down and throwing stuff away. That was just here in Kerrville alone," Turpin said.
Brayden said he was happy to assist those in need.
“Helping people get their stuff to their cars so they don’t have to get out, from what happened to them," Brayden said.
Turpin is going above and beyond, donating her barber tips from this week to a local animal shelter to help pets that are displaced.
“Even though they’re not human, a pet's a pet and they’re family and I’m sure being in a place where it’s really scary to them is heartbreaking because they don’t see their family," Turpin said. "They don’t know their family may not come back to get them because they might’ve passed away so I just want to do something to help out.”
Brayden said the sadness in Kerrville feels pretty heavy.
“If I had to rate it from one to ten, I would rate it a ten cause what’s been happening, especially what happened to that camp in Hunt," Brayden said.
Turpin said she wouldn't wish this tragedy on her worst enemy.
"It's dark, like it's not dark in terms of the sky being really ugly. It's just the feeling I get knowing that there's people outside still searching for family, still searching for their lost pets and valuables. There's pictures being posted on Facebook actually that people have found miles away from where they actually were, essentially in terms of their home, and it hurts," Turpin said.
Turpin says the community gave back to her and her children when she moved to Kerrville four years ago and though she doesn’t have much, she’s willing to help when and where she can.
“I think this is a place I can definitely call home cause in a time like this for a natural disaster, it’s really come back together," Turpin said.
The Scripps News Group and the Scripps Howard Fund are raising money to provide relief for those impacted by the devastating floods in Central Texas.
Learn how you can donate to the cause here.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
