Camp Mystic ‘grieving the loss’ of 27 campers and counselors following catastrophic Texas floods

KERRVILLE Texas AP Camp Mystic says it is grieving the loss of campers and counselors as the search continued Monday for casualties of catastrophic Texas flooding over the Fourth of July holiday weekend The announcement adds another layer of heartbreak to the devastating flooding sent a wall of water through the century-old summer camp We have been in communication with local and state administration who are tirelessly deploying extensive information to search for our missing girls the camp stated in a report posted on its website We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of endorsement from district first responders and officers at every level With more rain on the way the threat of life-threatening flooding was still high in central Texas on Monday even as crews search urgently for the missing following a holiday weekend deluge that killed more than people Personnel explained the death toll was sure to rise Residents of Kerr County began clearing mud and salvaging what they could from their demolished properties as they recounted harrowing escapes from rapidly rising floodwaters late Friday Reagan Brown declared his parents in their s managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt When the couple learned that their -year-old neighbor was trapped in her attic they went back and rescued her Then they were able to reach their toolshed up higher ground and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their toolshed and they all rode it out together Brown disclosed A sparse miles away rescuers maneuvering through challenging terrain filled with snakes continued their search for the missing including those from Camp Mystic an all-girls summer camp that sustained massive damage On Sunday afternoon more than two days after the floods tore through the camp leadership had announced that several of the girls and a counselor had still not been exposed Gov Greg Abbott disclosed Sunday that people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing In the Hill Country area home to several summer camps searchers have located the bodies of people including children Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha disclosed Ten other deaths were stated in Travis Burnet Kendall Tom Green and Williamson counties according to local executives The governor warned that additional rounds of heavy rains lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding especially in places already saturated Families were allowed to look around the camp beginning Sunday morning One girl walked out of a building carrying a large bell A man whose daughter was rescued from a cabin on the highest point in the camp walked a riverbank looking in clumps of trees and under big rocks 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 Searching the calamity zone Nearby crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches from the river With each passing hour the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak Participants and certain families of the missing came to the calamity zone and searched despite being questioned not to do so Government faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made President Donald Trump signed a major accident declaration Sunday for Kerr County and explained he would likely visit Friday I would have done it this day but we d just be in their way It s a horrible thing that took place absolutely horrible he recounted reporters Prayers in Texas and from the Vatican Abbott vowed that personnel will work around the clock and reported new areas were being searched as the water receded He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state In Rome Pope Leo XIV offered special prayers for those touched by the tragedy The first American pope spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon blessing saying I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones in particular their daughters who were in summer camp in the calamity caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States We pray for them Desperate refuge and trees and attics Survivors shared terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as rampaging floodwaters carried trees and cars past them Others fled to attics praying the water wouldn t reach them At Camp Mystic a cabin full of girls held onto a rope strung by rescuers as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs Among those substantiated dead were an -year-old girl from Mountain Brook Alabama who was at Camp Mystic and the director of another camp up the road Two school-age sisters from Dallas were missing after their cabin was swept away Their parents were staying in a different cabin and were safe but the girls grandparents were unaccounted for Warnings came before the tragedy On Thursday the National Weather Facility advised of possible flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies a rare alert notifying of imminent danger Executives and elected officers have declared they did not expect such an intense downpour the equivalent of months worth of rain for the area Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice mentioned administration are committed to a full review of the emergency response Trump requested whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Urgency Management Agency noted that was something we can talk about later but right now we are busy working He has revealed he wants to overhaul if not fully eliminate FEMA and sharply criticized its performance Trump also was sought whether he planned to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread cabinet spending cuts I would think not 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 declared Seewer shared from Toledo Ohio Contributing to this summary were Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles Adrian Sainz in Memphis Tennessee Cedar Attanasio in New York Sophia Tareen in Chicago Michelle Price in Morristown N J and Nicole Winfield in Rome Source