As the floodwaters began to recede from Camp Mystic, a torrent of grief remained as the identities of some of the campers who died in the flash floods began to emerge on Saturday. Texas officials are reportedly under scrutiny for the heavy casualty toll, as well as the Trump White House, over key staff positions at the National Weather Service that remain unfilled.
State officials said twenty seven girls from Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian camp for girls in Hunt, Texas, still were unaccounted for about thirty six hours after the flood. An 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic, and the director of another camp just up the road were among those confirmed dead Saturday. At least forty three people, including fifteen children, died in Kerr County after a storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain on Friday and sent floodwaters gushing out of the Guadalupe River through the hilly region known for its century-old summer camps. Another eight people died in nearby counties.
Published reports focused the Trump administration, and a lack of key staff members with the National Weather Service in Texas. “The original forecast that we received Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3-6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4-8 inches in the Hill Country,” said Texas Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd. “The amount of rain that fell at this specific location was never in any of those forecasts.”
Governor Greg Abbott, who toured the camp Saturday with rescue crews, vowed that authorities will work around the clock to find the missing girls and others swept away in the storm that caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. Many more are still missing, and authorities said about 850 people had been rescued so far.
The National Weather Service said a flood watch would remain in effect for the Hill Country region through late Saturday night. Pope Leo XIV, history's first American pope, spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon blessing, offering special prayers and expressing "sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp."
The camp was established in 1926. It grew so popular over the following decades that families are now encouraged to put prospective campers on the waitlist years in advance. Photos and videos taken before the flood are idyllic, showing large cabins with green-shingled roofs and names like "Wiggle Inn," tucked among sturdy oak and cypress trees that grow on the banks of the Guadalupe River. In some social media posts, girls are fishing, riding horses, playing kickball or performing choreographed dance routines in matching T-shirts. Girls ranging in age from 8 to 17 years old pose for the camera with big smiles, arms draped across the shoulders of their fellow campers.
But the floodwaters left behind a starkly different landscape: A pickup truck is balanced precariously on two wheels, its side lodged halfway up a tree. A wall is torn entirely off one building, the interior empty except for a Texas flag and paintings hung high along one side. A twisted bit of metal — perhaps a bedframe — is stacked next to colorful steamer trunks and broken tree limbs. First responders are scouring the riverbanks in hopes of finding survivors. Social media posts are now focused on the faces of the missing.
