Nearly one year after the devastating Texas Hill Country flooding on Friday, July 4, 2025, Annie and RJ Harber are sharing publicly for the first time how they are moving forward after losing their two daughters and RJ Harber’s parents in one of the state’s deadliest flood disasters.<\/p>\n
The North Texas couple said the grief remains overwhelming, but their faith has given them the strength to keep going and hope that one day they will grow their family again.<\/p>\n
Inside St. Rita Catholic Church, Annie and RJ Harber reflected on the lives of their daughters, Blair, 13, and Brooke, 11, and the memories they cherish most.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still wake up hoping that it’s a dream and you get out of bed and this is our reality,\u201d Annie Harber said.<\/p>\n
The sisters had different personalities but shared a close bond.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlair was my comfort. She was my closest companion,\u201d RJ Harber said.<\/p>\n
Annie Harber described Blair as \u201cthe kindest, most loving, gentle soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brooke, she said, brought joy wherever she went.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrooke was just this ball of energy and joy that you couldn’t help but have fun with,\u201d RJ Harber said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was fearless. She was confident,\u201d Annie Harber added.<\/p>\n
The family had spent many summers along the Guadalupe River, building traditions together. That changed during the early morning hours of July 4, 2025, when catastrophic floodwaters swept through the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I woke up to the lightning, the first thing I told RJ was, ‘We need to check on the girls,’ because I thought they might be scared,\u201d Annie Harber said. \u201cNever did I think when he stepped out that our house would be flooded.\u201d<\/p>\n
RJ Harber said the water rose with astonishing speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had not put my foot down, Annie and I would have been washed away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The couple escaped. Blair and Brooke, who were sleeping nearby, along with RJ Harber’s parents in a neighboring house, did not survive.<\/p>\n
Among the family’s most treasured memories is one final text message from their daughters.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir final words to us were a text message,\u201d RJ Harber said. \u201cAt 3:30 in the morning, it read, ‘I love you.’\u201d<\/p>\n
He said those words have become a source of comfort.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no message that said, ‘Help,’ or ‘I’m scared.’ Just, ‘I love you,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Annie Harber, no sign or memory can replace being with her daughters again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love the signs, but I would give anything to hold them in my arms. You know, one more hug,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Harbers said their Catholic faith has sustained them through the most difficult period of their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only reason we’re here is because of God and our faith,\u201d RJ Harber said. \u201cWe want to be reunited with them one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the couple said they hope to become parents again while always honoring Blair and Brooke.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re hopeful to be parents again one day, even though we’re always parents,\u201d RJ Harber said. \u201cWe want to raise another child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have so much more love to give,\u201d Annie Harber said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s no such thing as a limit on love,\u201d RJ Harber added. \u201cWe just want to give a child even more love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, photographs of Blair and Brooke fill the Harbers’ home, and the girls remain at the center of the family’s lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know Blair and Brooke are our angels in heaven,\u201d Annie Harber said. \u201cWe get up every day to honor them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Harbers have also established a legacy fund supporting Catholic education and youth sports programs in honor of Blair and Brooke. More information is available at BlairAndBrooke.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly one year after the devastating Texas Hill Country flooding on Friday, July 4, 2025, Annie and RJ…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4543,102,104,103],"class_list":["post-359456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-central-texas-flood","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}