Brenham neighbors tried to save 10-year-old swept away by rising water

Child swept away by rising water in Brenham

Neighbors in Brenham spoke with FOX 26 as they recalled what happened to a 10-year-old girl and her sister being swept away by rising water.

BRENHAM, Texas - Neighbors in a small Brenham neighborhood say they witnessed and tried to save 10-year-old Devah Woods, who was swept away by floodwaters. 

Joe Grant retraced his steps and says he did everything he could to save 10-year-old Devah Woods. 

He says the water swept Devah and her sister away in the blink of an eye.

Neighbors recall the moment 10-year-old "slipped" and was swept away by rushing water 

Timeline:

Joe Grant says he was standing at his doorstep when he noticed 10-year-old Devah Woods and her sister walking home with their backpacks on.

"I was standing at my door right across the street over there and this is where she fell. Right here. They was coming up from walking down from there. Her and her siblings, the two little girls, and right about here, they were stomping and going on. Next thing I know, I seen one of them she slipped and fell," Grant said. "The current here was real powerful going down here. They had backpacks on them and I guess by them having their backpacks on them, it made them float." 

Grant took video and posted it to his Facebook page.

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He says this video is from the moments before the girls were walking, slipped, and fell into the water. 

"She was floating right here on her back, and I’m still thinking she could get up out of this," Grant said. "The other one she saw her fall and she was hollering at her little sister at the time," Grant added. 

Video captures heavy rainfall, rising flood water

Video captured by Joe Grant shows the moment heavy rainfall caused rising flood water leading to two girls being swept away in Brenham. A 10-year-old girl lost her life in the incident.

Grant said, although it took him a few minutes to recount what happened, it only took a few seconds for the little girls to be swept away. He says he wishes he would have reacted sooner, but it all happened so fast. 

"The water was going in a circle and woosh and just took them," said Grant. "One of them hit right here first and then the other one went on around that way. She hit up against this car and that’s when I came down right here, and I thought maybe I could get them." 

Second neighbor recalls the moment he jumped into the bayou with rushing water and tried to save both girls

Another neighbor recalls the moment he jumped in the rushing water to save both girls. 

Charles Rogers says he jumped in rushing water to try and save both Devah and her sister, but unfortunately was only able to save one. 

"The water was flowing very hard. That’s when I got down there and that’s when I lost track of one of them," Rogers said. "The water was pushing them hard." 

Rogers walked us down the bayou where there is a drop with a bridge over it. That’s where he said he lost 10-year-old Devah out of his arms due to the force of the water. 

"We got to the other side. I was able to grab her, hold her up, and pull her to safety," said Rogers, "They were screaming and crying, and one girl was saying, please save me, and I was doing the best I could." 

Rogers says it breaks his heart he could not save both of the girls. 

"I just lost her going that way, during the current, I had both of them, but I lost one," Rogers said. "I went down in the ditch, I was able to grab her to safety and throw her up on land, and then I wanted to go try and see if I can rescue the other one, but it was too late," 

Rogers says processing what happened to 10-year-old Devah was tough for him, but he prayed about it. 

"I just prayed on it. I prayed hard last night on it, and I prayed hard this morning, but thankful that we found the other one," said Rogers.