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Michael Phillips: Here's the latest on missing Marble Falls fire chief amid Texas floods
Fire Chief Michael Phillips was swept away by floodwaters in Travis County. His vehicle was found, but search efforts for him are still ongoing.
Michael Phillips, the chief of Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department, was swept away by floodwaters as he was attending to an emergency call in Travis County on Saturday. Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd said at a presser on Monday that the county officials are continuing their search for Phillips. Boyd added that the emergency vehicle that Phillips was driving has been found, but officials have still not been able to locate Phillips.
Sheriff Boyd added that multiple search teams are actively searching for Phillips in parts of Burnet County from where Phillips and another flood victim went missing. He added that the weather has damaged roads and made several low-lying areas inaccessible for the search crew.
"I think you know we found his vehicle... we still have not found Chief Phillips yet," Sheriff Boyd said. “The other person missing is from the Burnet area. We've located his vehicle, still have not been able to locate him.”
Despite that, officials are continuing their search operations using traditional methods like search on horseback or by ATX, Texas-based ABC affiliate, KVUE reported. A lot of repair work is yet to be done which will subsequently make more areas accessible for the search operations, Sheriff Boyd added.
Who Is Michael Phillips?
As per his Facebook profile, Phillips has been volunteering as fire chief with the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department in Texas since at least 1995. A prominent name in Marble Falls, Phillips has served as the former Director of Maintenance at Marble Falls Independent School District. He studied at Columbia Southern University and graduated with a degree in Fire Science.
Texas Flood Updates
The catastrophic floods in central Texas continue with a flash flood emergency issued by the National Weather Service still active for several counties, as of Monday afternoon. Over the weekend, Kerr County, through which the Guadalupe River flows, saw massive damage after the river surged on Friday after over 11 inches of rainfall over the weekend. At least 75 people have lost their lives in Kerr County, while many still remain missing.
