Burdened to help storm victims, Steve Tybor founded 8 Days in the hours after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. He has since witnessed Mother Nature wreak havoc from coast to coast but, as AFN reported, the fast-rising flood waters along the Guadalupe River changed the ministry's plans to help flood victims.
Arriving on the scene as the floodwaters receded, 8 Days was expecting to help homeowners salvage their homes. Instead, with 160 people unaccounted for, the ministry put its own heavy equipment to work with the somber task of helping first responders find bodies.
“It's been an emotional journey,” Tybor says of the two-week search and recovery after the historic flooding.
With the heavy-equipment operators on standby, Tybor says they were constantly waiting for a phone call to come help first responders recover a possible flood victim. One of the volunteers shared with Tybor it has been a mentally exhausting job for him.
“They're told to move dirt, move debris. Cadaver dogs are brought in and they bring in some other equipment,” he explains. “And they think they have, maybe, a lead on a possibility. And, of course, people get anxious.”
On the scene, he says, everyone is thinking recovering a body might bring closure for the family.
The number of missing persons had dropped from about 160 on July 4 to only 3 by July 19, according to NBC News.
The death toll in Kerry County stands at 107, including 70 adults and 37 children, according to Fox News.
Many of those fatalities came from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls, that lost at least 27 campers and camp counselors.
“This is something we've never done. This is unlike anything we've been a part of,” Tybor says.
