The floods also swept away Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp in Kerr County. According to reports, 27 children and counselors hosted by the camp at the time floods surged 26 feet in just 45 minutes lost their lives while 11 are still missing.
“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly,” the camp wrote in a statement on their website. At the time being, they are in contact with local authorities, continuing the search for “missing girls.”
“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,” the statement ended.
Camp Mystic’s director Dick Eastland died trying to take the children to safety.
“If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,” his grandson, George Eastland, wrote on Instagram, ABC reported. “A husband, father, grandfather, and mentor to thousands of young women, he no longer walks this earth, but his impact will never leave the lives he touched.”
Another tragic story from Texas speaks of the heroic final attempt of a dad to save his family at Kerr County, the region hit hardest by the catastrophic floods.
Lorena Guillen, owner of the Blue Oak RV Park, recalled how the father, identified as John Burges of Liberty, Texas, clung to a tree while holding his children and refused to let go of them. Not long after, they were all swept away by the rising water.
“My husband was in the water trying to ask them, ‘Please throw me your baby!’ The man was holding tight to his babies, and he just got swept away,” Guillen told the NY Post.
Burges’ wife and two sons are still missing, while his daughter, who was at a camp at the time of the floods remained safe.
The family was spending the Fourth of July weekend at Guillen’s park.
“The kids were so excited to be here,” Guillen said. “We heard people screaming throughout the night. The cabins from the RV park next door came floating, and they were getting smashed against the trees. ‘Help me! Help me!’ — that was the main thing. You heard a lot of screaming, it was just too much.”
Her entire camp was completely destroyed, but it is the thought of the lives lost that haunts her.
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