TOOWOOMBA, Australia – Prince William met Sunday with the family of a 13-year-old Australian boy who gave his life to save his younger brother during devastating floods earlier this year.

The second in line to the British throne closed out a visit to disaster zones in Australia and New Zealand with brief but poignant stops in small towns where flash flooding ripped houses from their foundations and carried away cars during the worst of a weekslong crisis.

Jordan Rice was among 35 people killed in the floods, washed away with his mother in their car when floodwaters cascaded through the town of Toowoomba on Jan. 10. Trapped in the car as the water rose around them, the teenager told rescuers who reached them to grab his brother, Blake, 11, first.

William chatted with Blake and his father, John Tyson, on Sunday at one of several functions where the prince mingled with survivors of the flooding, which swamped a huge part of northeastern Queensland state starting late last year.

“He could feel our pain, you could see it in his eyes,” Tyson said after meeting William.

The prince’s visit has been kept low key out of respect for those affected by the disaster in the places he has toured. The focus has been on meeting survivors in informal gatherings and getting briefings from officials on recovery efforts, rather than speeches or ceremonial appearances.

 


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