Three brothers — ages 6, 8, and 9 — died Monday after falling through an icy pond in Bonham, Texas, during a massive winter storm gripping the United States, authorities said Tuesday. Their mother, Cheyenne Hangaman, jumped into the freezing water to try to save them but was unable to.

The deaths, part of a broader toll exceeding 40 deaths across the U.S. during the severe cold spell, underscore the dangers posed by winter storms to children and families, particularly when school closures alter routines and place families in unfamiliar environments.

Cheyenne Hangaman heard her daughter scream that her brothers had fallen through the ice.

“I ran across as much ice as I could to get to them and eventually ended up falling in myself,” Hangaman told the Associated Press. The freezing water shocked her body immediately. “I would grab one, try to put him on ice, but the ice just kept breaking every time I would sit him up there.”

The three boys — ages 6, 8, and 9 — died Monday after falling through a private pond north of Bonham, a rural community of about 10,000 people near the Oklahoma border. First responders and a neighbor pulled the two older boys from the water. The youngest was recovered after an extensive search of the pond, according to the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office.

Hangaman said she and her children had been staying at a friend’s house across the street from the pond and that she had warned them to not go near it. When her youngest daughter ran to tell her the boys were in the water, she rushed to help.

“I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move,” Hangaman said. “By that time I knew that my kids were already gone. So I just had to try to fight for my life at that point.” A man who came to help threw a rope that allowed her to escape the pond.

When School Closed

All three boys were enrolled in elementary schools in the Bonham Independent School District. The district had canceled classes Monday because of the frigid weather sweeping across much of the United States. School was also closed Tuesday due to icy roads and freezing temperatures.

“We are devastated by this unimaginable loss, and our thoughts are with the family, friends, and all who knew and loved these children,” Superintendent Lance Hamlin said in a letter to parents.

Hangaman said the three boys were “bubbly.” “You couldn’t really stop their bubbliness,” she said.

Across the Nation

More than 40 deaths have been reported in states affected by the severe cold.