SAN ANTONIO – Two weeks after floodwaters swept through the San Antonio area and killed more than a dozen people, some victims’ loved ones are still searching for answers about what happened.
“My impression is the large amount of rain that fell in this area and then all the construction and concrete (in the area),” Frank Trevino said, speculating on the cause.
Most of the people who died were in vehicles. Those cars washed down into Beitel Creek near Perrin Beitel Road and Austin Highway.
>> What we know about the devastating San Antonio floods that killed 13 people on June 12
Since June 12, Trevino said he has returned to the Brian Glen Trailhead nearby, walking the now relatively dry creek bed to search for whatever he can find.
“Looking for personal items, trying to, pretty much, figure out what happened. How it happened,” Trevino said. “Most of the debris down there is related to cars, car parts, things like that.”
Trevino said that if he comes across any personal items, he plans to return them to the victims’ families.
At one of the memorials set up near the trailhead, a few recovered items, including a laptop computer and a purse, were pulled from the mud.
For Trevino, the search to find and return those types of items is personal and, in a way, a continuation of what happened that day.
Trevino said a family friend, who was among those caught up in the floodwaters, was ultimately found dead.
“I got a call late that night that he was missing,” Trevino said. “So, my immediate reaction was, ‘I need to go down there.’”
>> Remembering the victims of the June 12 floods in San Antonio
He said he has not given up his search for answers and is anxiously awaiting official information on what led to so many deaths.
The City of San Antonio has hired an outside company, Kleinfelder, Inc., to assist with a study into the causes of the issues at both Beitel Creek and Leon Creek.
In a memo, City Manager Erik Walsh said that the investigation will focus on weather conditions, warnings issued to the public and any available video footage from those areas, among other factors.
No timeframe has been specified yet for when the study is expected to be completed.
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