A Texas camp hit hard by catastrophic flooding has spoken out about the “unimaginable tragedy” of losing 27 of its campers.
“Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe river,” an online statement read. “Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly.”
Local officials are still searching for the missing three days after flash floods first smashed into south-central Texas, claiming at least 82 lives. The floods hit Kerr County and its surrounding areas at the start of the holiday weekend, leaving locals, campers, and July 4th visitors swept up in the catastrophic floods.
Rescue efforts were still in full force Sunday and into Monday as emergency crews raced against the clock to find the missing girls from Camp Mystic. In its statement the camp added that “extensive resources” had been deployed to find its missing campers and counselors.
“We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level,” the statement read. “We ask for your continued prayers, respect and privacy for each of our families affected. May the Lord continue to wrap His presence around all of us.”
Established in 1962, Camp Mystic is a private Christian summer camp for girls that is located on the banks of the Guadalupe River and 18 miles northwest of Kerrville.
One camper, rescued from the scene of the carnage was 13-year-old Stella Thompson, from Dallas, who said she and others were “hysterical” when they learned other campers had been lost in flooding. “It didn’t look like Camp Mystic anymore,” she told NBC5.
“I think while it was going on I sort of felt a numbness,” Thompson, who was enjoying her sixth summer at the camp, said. “Saying it out loud is making me realize what actually happened and how bad it actually is.”
She added: “Eventually, when we got that news, we were all kind of hysterical, and the whole cabin was praying a lot and terrified – but not for ourselves.”
Thompson and her friends were eventually evacuated by military trucks. She told NBC that huge trees had been uprooted, with vehicles and girls’ camp trunks and clothes flung far and wide, as well as first responders searching in the water.
Some of the youngsters from Camp Mystic have already been named by their families online, including eight-year-old Sara Marsh, from Alabama, and Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, eight-year-old twin sisters from Dallas.
On Saturday Texas Governor Greg Abbott visited the camp, saying that it “horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I’ve seen in any natural disaster.”
“The height the rushing water reached to the top of cabins was shocking,” he wrote on X, before vowing: “We won’t stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins.”
Despite the devastation, the region is bracing for yet more heavy rainfall on Monday, which may complicate ongoing search efforts.
There are reports of an additional “wall of water” heading toward Kerr County, Nim Kidd, Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said at a Sunday afternoon press conference.
Issues arose late Thursday, after the National Weather Service predicted between 1 and 3 inches of rain for most areas – yet the region was surprised by a torrential downpour along the Guadalupe River that led to flash floods.
Parts of Kerr County received 10 to 15 inches in a short span of time.
