Who Was John Burgess? Texas Dad and His Two Babies Die After He Refused to Let Go of the Kids and All Were Swept Away in the Floods

A desperate father, clutching a tree while holding onto “his babies” during the devastating Texas floods, refused to toss the children to nearby residents and soon they were all swept away by the raging waters, a heartbroken local said on Monday. The tragic father, John Burgess of Liberty, Texas, has been confirmed among the several dead, according to KWTX.

“My husband was in the water, trying to ask them, ‘Please, throw me your baby!’ The man was holding tight to his babies, and he just got swept away,” Lorena Guillen, owner of the Blue Oak RV Park in Kerr County — the area hit hardest by last week’s devastating floods — said.

Couldn’t Save Babies and Himself

His wife, Julia, and their two little sons are still missing, while their daughter — who had been attending a nearby summer camp — is confirmed to be safe. The family was at the RV park for the July 4 holiday, Guillen said. “The kids were so excited to be here,” she said.

Guillen said that all 28 RVs in the crowded park that tragic morning were completely destroyed — and the terrifying screams as they were swept away are something she says she will never forget.

“We heard people screaming throughout the night,” she said. “The cabins from the RV park next door came floating, and they were getting smashed against the trees.

“‘Help me! Help me!’ — that was the main thing. You heard a lot of screaming, it was just too much,” Guillen said.

She said she got a possible flash flood warning alert shortly after the incident occurred. “About 2:30 [a.m.], I couldn’t sleep. I went all the way to the edge of the water, and I looked down at the river, and it was fine,” she said.

“I called the sheriff’s department at that time, and they had no information how the river levels were. I asked them, ‘Do I need to evacuate?’ and they said, ‘We have no information right now, we don’t know.’ “

Ran Out of Time

An hour later, she and her husband were woken up by the flashing lights of the rescue team that had arrived at the park. “My husband and I ran down. By then, the first level of the RVs were already washing away. The river went up about 10 feet at that time. A family of five was stranded because they were the ones closest to the river. Their RV was floating away. It was pitch black, it was so dark,” she said.

The couple rushed to alert others, pounding on RV doors to wake up residents and help them escape to safety.

According to her, eight bodies were found on her property on Sunday, and two young girls were trapped beneath debris. Meanwhile, the neighboring RV park reported 40 people missing.

Now, the area where RVs once stood is littered with tangled power lines, uprooted plants, and wrecked vehicles — all left behind after the Guadalupe River surged an incredible 27 feet in just 45 minutes.

Guillen called for an improved warning system in the future to give people enough time to reach safety.

“I don’t understand why we don’t have alarms blaring in every single property or every mile down the road,” she said. “But something needs to change. Hopefully I’ll never get to see this in my lifetime.”

Still, she doesn’t hold officials responsible for what she describes as a once-in-a-lifetime disaster.

“I think they did the best they could with what they had. The river flooding authorities not having a budget enough to have censors and alarms installed — that’s the part that should have been changed. Without having a budget or resources, their hands are tied as well,” she said.

“Nobody ever remembers a flood this bad. I have friends who are 90 years old and they don’t remember a flood that bad.”