Rescue crews are still looking for victims after rainfall caused deadly floods in Texas over the July Fourth weekend. According to the Associated Press, about 90 people passed away, including more than two dozen campers and counselors from Camp Mystic. Early Monday (July 7), a statement from the all-girls Christian camp sparked media headlines.
“Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River,” the statement read. “Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly.
More Details About Tragedy At All-Girls’ Christian Camp
Authorities said Monday that 10 girls and a counselor from the camp remain missing. Operators also revealed they’re working with local and state authorities to continue the search. Camp Mystic, located in Texas Hill Country, has been around for at least a century.
This weekend, a wall of water slammed into cabins built along the edge of the Guadalupe River. Two school-age sisters from Dallas were missing Sunday after their cabin was swept away. Their parents were staying in a different cabin and were safe, but the girls’ grandparents were unaccounted for. In one cabin, a group of girls held onto a rope rescuers strung as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs.
Beginning Sunday morning (July 6), families were allowed to look around Camp Mystic. The scene was somber to say the least. AP reports that a father continued in the search for others after rescue pulled his daughter from a cabin on the highest point in the camp. One family left with a blue footlocker. A teenage girl had tears running down her face as they slowly drove away, and she gazed through the open window at the wreckage.
At Least 75 Dead In Area Near Mystic Camp
In the Hill Country area, home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, searchers have found the bodies of 75 people. The recovery includes 27 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. Among those confirmed dead were an 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Mystic Camp, and the director of another camp up the road. Additionally, local officials have reported 12 other deaths in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson counties.
On Friday night (July 4), the river swept away people sleeping in tents, cabins, and homes along the banks. Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday that 41 people were unaccounted for across the state, and more could be missing. The Texas floods are among the nation’s worst in decades. Survivors shared terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as floodwaters carried trees and cars past them. Others fled to attics, praying the water wouldn’t reach them.
President Trump Responds To Texas Rescue Questions
President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County on Sunday. He also said he would likely visit the area on Friday, July 11. “It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible,” he told reporters.
Trump was asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said that was something “we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working.” The president has said he wants to overhaul, if not completely eliminate, FEMA and has sharply criticized its performance. Despite the tragedy, Trump said he doesn’t plan to rehire any federal meteorologists fired this year during widespread government spending cuts.
“This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people there, and they didn’t see it,” the president said about the flooding.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said recent cuts to FEMA and the National Weather Service did not delay warnings before the flood.
“This is not a time for partisan finger pointing and attacks,” he said. “There will be a time to find out what could been done differently. My hope is in time we learn some lessons to implement the next time there is a flood.”
With additional rain on the way, the risk of more flooding was still high in saturated parts of central Texas. Authorities said the death toll was sure to rise as crews looked for the many people who were still missing.
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Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno, John Seewer, Christopher Weber, Adrian Sainz, Cedar Attanasio, Sophia Tareen and Michelle Price contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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