Catholic parents of Texas flood victims share witness to faith amid grief
The parents of Blair and Brooke Harber, the Catholic sisters who died in the 2025 Texas Hill Country flash floods, shared how their faith has sustained them through the tremendous grief and how they are honoring their daughters' legacy.
Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas, were among the victims of the Texas Hill Country flash floods that devastated parts of the state on July 4, 2025.
“I would say after a year, itʼs almost more difficult than it has been," RJ Harber said in an interview with host Catherine Hadro on “EWTN News In Depth” alongside his wife, Annie Harber.
“The depth of the grief does not go away. It actually enhances, because this is your reality now, and you understand your children are actually gone,” he said.
“Now there is comfort knowing that they are in heaven, and we did our job as parents to prepare them to get them there. But our love for them was so deep that the grief that we have is just tremendous,” he said.
The family was vacationing with RJ Harber’s parents, Mike and Charlene Harber, on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas, when the floods occurred.
The flash flood raised the river more than 22 feet in half an hour in the early morning hours of July 4, dislodging and carrying away the sisters’ cabin, in which they were staying with their grandparents.
Harbers have ‘leaned heavily’ on Catholic faith
Annie and RJ Harber detailed the challenges of navigating such a profound loss. They shared how it tested their faith, while also relying on that same faith to carry them through the past year.
It was “really important to us to instill the Catholic faith and values in our girls,” Annie Harber said. “But … after all of this, I definitely questioned God and was angry at God” and “didnʼt understand why, or how, this could happen to us.”
“We have leaned on each other and our faith to get us up every morning,” she said. “I think for me, truly, when I wake up, I tell myself Iʼm one day closer to seeing the girls, because we know theyʼre in heaven and our goal is to ultimately get there. So we have to continue to live by the Catholic faith and our values that we taught the girls.”
“I think weʼre still alive because of our faith,” RJ Harber said. “God can accept anger, but he can also help us carry this cross. And the Church has rallied around us.”
“We found the girls on Saturday, July 5, and we went to Mass Sunday, July 6. It was probably the most difficult thing Iʼve ever done. But thatʼs because we want to follow the commandments,” he said, citing the Third Commandment to keep holy the Sabbath.
“So weʼve leaned heavily … on our Catholic faith,” he said.
RJ Harber, who also lost his parents in the disaster, said his “daughters were their greatest joy.” His parents attended “every single sporting event” of their granddaughters.
The girls “were their only grandchildren, so they just doted on them,” he said. “My father was suffering from Parkinsonʼs disease, but he would just want me to drive him to Brooke’s softball game and watch her pitch, or ask to watch Blair play soccer.”
“We find solace in the fact that theyʼre watching over our girls in heaven and are just thankful that theyʼre there with them now,” he said.
‘The faith was very important to our girls’
As Annie and RJ Harber have relied on their faith through their grief, they detailed the importance the Catholic faith played in their daughters’ lives as well.
“Not only did they go to Catholic school, but we would go to Mass every Sunday,” RJ Harber said. “It was instrumental in our lives.”
RJ reflected on his daughter Blair’s faith, sharing that she prayed the rosary “every single night.” Two weeks before the tragedy, “her rosary beads broke and she asked to borrow mine, which I received when I converted to the Catholic faith, and took those down to the river with her.”
“So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments,” he said.
So we know that she died with those beads in her hands, and with Mary and God protecting her, in those last moments.”
RJ Harber
“We prayed every single night. And we still pray with them every single night,” RJ said.
“Prayer has been instrumental. We get messages from all over the world about people praying for us. And I think thatʼs helping us share the girls with the world. And honestly I think God, through the Holy Spirit, is using our daughters to bring people closer to the faith,” he said.
The couple said they have heard from several people who have returned to Mass and confession since hearing the sisters’ story.
“Weʼve received … messages about people converting to the Catholic faith because of Brooke and Blair. So their work is not done in this world — itʼs only beginning.”
The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund
Since losing their daughters, Annie and RJ have started a fund to continue to honor their daughters through The Blair & Brooke Harber Beloved Sisters Fund.
The fund, set up through The Catholic Foundation of Texas, supports flood and disaster relief efforts and aids Catholic after-school activities, including after-school education and Catholic sports.
Blair and Brooke “played lacrosse and there is a large barrier to entry into lacrosse,” RJ Harber said. “So weʼve been able to get hundreds of sticks donated, hundreds of goggles donated, and have allowed girls to come and try lacrosse for the first time who would otherwise never try it.”
“This February, we hosted an event. Over 200 girls came out and tried the sport for the first time. So these kindergartners, first graders, second graders are looking up to our girls and carrying their life forward. And I just think thatʼs a beautiful thing to see,” he said.
