Floodwaters swept through central Texas last Friday, revealing a father’s final act that was both terrifying and tragic.

Jeff Ramsey, 61, and his wife Tanya, 46, were sleeping in their Airstream trailer at the HTR RV Park in Kerrville when the Guadalupe River quickly swelled, releasing a wall of water that destroyed everything in its path.

Just before the floodwaters engulfed their trailer, Jeff picked up the phone to contact his two children, Jake and Rachel, aware that they would likely not answer. Nonetheless, he left a voicemail that they will never forget.

“Buddy. I really adore you. It doesn’t appear like we’ll make it. “Tell Rachey I love her,” Jeff said in the tragic note.

Jake told the New York Post that his father’s voice was full of worry, which he had never heard before.

Moments later, Jeff left another message for his daughter Rachel. The sound of gushing water and Tanya’s panicked screams echoed in the background.

“We’re dying, we’re dying!”

That was the last time anyone heard from them.

They made a disastrous mistake in failing to issue a warning.

The timeliness of this tale adds to its tragic impact.

Jeff received an evacuation notice from the RV park after the flood had already washed them away. Jake stated that the message arrived just as Jeff was taping his goodbye to Rachel, far too late to make a difference.

He was infuriated at the time.

Although Jeff could not save himself or Tanya, he used his final moments to alert Tanya’s brother and mother, who were asleep in a nearby cabin.

His call awakened them exactly in time. The cabin was subsequently discovered entirely demolished.

“He rescued them because they would have slept in, and they would have washed away,” Jake told me. “He saved their lives.”

Search workers eventually found Tanya’s body. Her unusual tattoos helped to identify her. Jeff is still missing.

“She was our mom, too.”

Tanya was more than a stepmother; she was family.

“We were her kids,” Jake explained.

“Obviously we have a mom as well, but we were her babies.”

Tanya, a breast cancer survivor, ran a wig business in Dallas. Jeff, a longtime insurance salesman, was also heavily active with the Adaptive Training Foundation, a Dallas-area gym that helps amputees and others with physical problems regain strength.

“You will be hard-pressed to find a man with a greater servant’s heart than this man. Thank you, brother, for your constant and endless support over the last ten years for me and every person you have blessed at the Adaptive Training Foundation. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to visit you for one final big embrace last week.

Rest easy, dear brother; we will carry your name forward with love and light,” one of Jeff’s pals, Morris Brossette, posted on Facebook.

A minor miracle: Chloe survives.

Amidst the sadness, the family received one bit of good news. A nearby shelter discovered the couple’s beloved dog, Chloe, a whippet they rescued years ago, alive.

Jake is still hurting from the loss and believes the lack of notice from the authority was unforgivable. He thinks more could have been done to save lives.

At a funeral service, he met with Texas State Senator Tan Parker, who allegedly vowed to repair the alert system.

However, for Jake, it was too little, too late.

“The only thing I know that happened was that my father received a text message after it was too late. He has already bid farewell to me and my sister.”

As the waters recede and the town mourns its losses, Jeff’s parting letter to his children serves as a heartbreaking reminder of how quickly lives may be altered—or lost—in the face of nature’s fury.

We extend compassion and support to everyone touched by this horrible tragedy. I’ll keep the Ramsey family and everyone else in my thoughts!