Bob Canales and his wife, Lorena Guillen, owners of Blue Oak RV Park in Kerrville, Texas, were jolted into action on the morning of July 4 when the nearby Guadalupe River began to flood. They rushed to the park, trying to warn campers as rising waters turned a holiday weekend into a nightmare.

Among those Bob tried to save was the Burgess family—John, his wife Julia, their two young sons, and their dog. John, the younger brother of Fort Worth country singer Pat Green, was stranded with his family near a steep drop-off. Bob called out to John, begging, “Throw me the baby!”—but the current was too strong. Moments later, the family was swept away. John and Julia were found dead. Their boys remain missing. The dog survived.

“You could hear transformers popping,” Bob said, describing how cabins slammed together “like dominoes.” People trapped in cars vanished “in a flash.” The devastation left at least 132 people dead.

“This wasn’t how anyone imagined Independence Day,” Bob said. “Within 45 minutes, they were wiped off the planet.”

The couple reopened their nearby restaurant, Howdy’s Bar and Chill, to feed survivors and host a memorial for 27-year-old kitchen worker Julian Ryan, one of the victims.

“It’s been so important to help people feel like life can go on,” Bob said. “I think people see that we’re going to survive this.”