Search efforts are still underway for their grandparents, Mike and Charlene Harber, who are presumed to have been swept away with the girls. The family had chosen to stay in a neighbor’s larger cabin to make sure the girls were comfortable — a decision that ended in tragedy.

A family’s faith and the heartbreak of what could not be saved

Blair and Brooke were students at St. Rita’s Catholic School in Dallas, where their mother works. Both girls were described as warm, bright, and deeply faithful. They brought their rosaries with them on the trip — a small symbol of comfort that now carries even deeper meaning.

“Blair had a heart that never hesitated to help someone,” said their aunt, Jennifer Harber. “And Brooke just made people feel better by being in the room.”

The Harber family had simply set out on a brief summer escape. But within hours, they were thrust into the heart of one of the deadliest flood disasters in recent Texas history. With the statewide death toll now surpassing 80 and dozens more still unaccounted for, their loss is part of a much wider tragedy — but no less personal.

For now, a father clings to the final message from his daughter, and to the image of two sisters who refused to let go of each other — even in their final moments.