By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Sarah Elizabeth Pool, a 15-year-old Westlake High School student, was participating in a wakeboard camp with Austin Ridge Bible Church on Thursday when she was last seen alive.

Her body was recovered on Saturday, and on Monday the Travis County Medical Examiner officially identified her.

Pool was the first-born of triplets and she recently completed her freshman year at WHS. Her obituary states: “She and her life was a miraculous, God-given gift to her family from the very beginning. Sarah is best remembered as a happy and compassionate young woman who loved Jesus, her family, her friends, dancing and animals.”

Her funeral is Wednesday, June 17, and in remembrance of Pool’s love for life, her family would appreciate attendees wearing her favorite colors of blue or teal.

It was that love of life that likely drew Pool to participate in her church’s One Wakeboard Camp. While at the camp, she was last seen alive about a mile from VIP Marina Lake Travis on Thursday.

Sarah Elizabeth Pool
March 13, 2000 –
June 11, 2015

Continue reading →

Four Points residents and members of the Austin Christian Fellowship Disaster Recovery Team take a break after working to help Wimberley residents dig out from under the damage of recent floods. Left to right are Keith Shaw, Angel Figeroa, Mark Crenwelge, Pam Crenwelge, Keith Morton and Matt Morton.

By KIM ESTES, Four Points News

Four Points residents, businesses and churches are making a difference in the flood-ravaged town of Wimberley.

“To see it in real life, you feel so small. Huge trees that are hundreds of years old, are down: like someone came through with a roller and rolled everything down,” said Nicole Korensky, a local resident who has teamed up with others to help support the aftermath of the Memorial Day weekend floods in Wimberley.

And it’s not just what’s on the side of the road, Korensky said. “You look up in the trees and there’s a chair and boards stuck in a tree. It just shows you how high the water rose. It takes your breath away.”

“It’s a terribly devastating and tragic situation, but if a silver lining is possible, the support and sense of community responding to help would be it,” said Kristina Ritchie, who coordinated with local businesses to provide food and coffee to displaced residents, search and rescue workers, and volunteers shoveling debris in the devastated community about 50 miles south of here.

The Wimberley floodwaters took this house off of its foundation. Local Four Points residents were compelled to help and several moms teamed up to collect homemade cookies, snacks, cleaning supplies, food and drink to help support the cleanup efforts. Photo by Nicole Korensky

Continue reading →

By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

For Steiner Ranch resident Julie Shields and her family, the Memorial weekend floods have been devastating. Shields lost her sister, a nephew and a niece in the Wimberley floods, and she continues to help in the search of Leighton’s body in the Wimberley area.

“We’re not giving up,” Shields said. “We still need to find Leighton. The outpouring of love and support is what’s keeping us going. We had 1,500 volunteers on Saturday.”

Shields’ sister, Corpus Christie resident Laura McComb, 34, had been spending the holiday weekend in Wimberley with her husband, Jonathan, their two children, Andrew, 6, and Leighton, 4, and another family in a cabin by the Blanco River. But when the torrential rains began and the river quickly rose to unprecedented levels on May 23, their cabin at 100 Deer Crossing was swept off its foundation, sending it and the nine people inside floating downstream.

Three members of the McComb family lost their lives in the Memorial Day weekend floods in Wimberley. Longtime Steiner Ranch resident Julie Shields continues to help search for her niece Leighton McComb’s body after the floods. Shields’ sister Laura McComb and her nephew Andrew also lost their lives. Her brother-in-law Jonathan was released from the hospital on Friday and is helping in the search efforts for his missing daughter.

Continue reading →