By Alaa Elassar, CNN

(CNN) — Nine-year-old Cole Morris cowered in between his grandfather and seven of their family members, whispering prayers as rising floodwaters lapped furiously at the stairs of their attic.

“Are we going to die?” Cole asked his grandpa, his brown eyes wide with panic.

Barry Adelman thought they might. But he swallowed the truth, forced a smile, and hugged his grandson tightly.

“I told him that we were going to be just fine,” Adelman told CNN. “I was scared to death, but I wasn’t going to put fear in our grandson.”

If the water had risen higher, it’s likely his family wouldn’t have survived, he said. At least 135 people, including more than 35 children, were killed in the catastrophic Central Texas flooding on July 4 that ravaged the region, including campsite

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