Generations of Texas girls have found refuge during the summer months at the Christian camp Camp Mystic, located just along one of the bends of the Guadalupe River.
However, it has become the scene of a tragedy that is tugging at the hearts of Texans all around the state after an unexpected flood broke through in the early hours of July Fourth.
The area, filled with cypress and live oak trees, was home to hundreds of campers and workers in green-roofed huts. Over half of Hunt’s 1,300-person population, or 750 females aged 7 to 17, were housed at Camp Mystic this summer.
The 700-acre campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country are a serene setting where girls can spend weeks creating pottery and singing campfire songs. Between church services, they also learn how to kayak and fish for bass because they’re right beside the river.
The scene had become bleak by Saturday afternoon. Cars were overlapping each other but structures remained intact. Campers’ abandoned possessions were scattered on the floor or smashed against the windows within the cabins.
That river rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, reaching disastrous levels in less than an hour overnight with little warning. Homes and cars were washed away by swift-moving floodwaters, and Camp Mystic officials found it challenging to transport hundreds of girls to safer ground in the dark.
Verified by Camp Mystic Monday The floodwaters claimed the lives of 27 staff and campers. The search for the missing girls is still ongoing. At least 27 children were among the 84 people killed by the flood in Kerr County as of Monday night, according to officials. Fifteen more verified deaths occurred in neighboring counties.
Richard Dick Eastland, the director of Camp Mystic, is one of the people who has been officially declared deceased, according to a Facebook post made by his nephew. Family members of the Eastland family have been running the 99-year-old camp for four generations. The sons and daughter-in-law of Dick and his wife, Tweety Eastland, currently own it.
Republican U.S. Representative August Pfluger of San Angelo stated that two of his daughters were among those who had to leave the camp.
Caroline and Juliana, who were evacuated from Camp Mystic, Pflugerposted on X, have now been reunited with Camille, Vivian, and myself. Many families have experienced unspeakable sorrow over the past day, and we join them in their grief while also maintaining hope for surviving.
Posts featuring images of the missing girls and requests for people to keep a watch out for survivors have been all over social media. In addition, former campers are expressing their sorrow for bereaved families and sharing special experiences. Camp Mystic just shared a video of the ladies’ group dance performances on Instagram last week.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told parents on Friday that search and rescue personnel are searching for survivors and that they will do everything in their power to find their daughter. The search was aided by 400–500 personnel on the ground, 12 drones, and 14 state helicopters.
Families received a desperate message from the camp administration on Friday, informing them that they were assisting rescues after suffering devastating flooding. At the facility, all water, wifi, and power had been turned off. The message emphasized that all missing children’s parents had been notified.
The message read, “We are having trouble getting more help because the highway was washed away.” Please keep praying and, if you know of anyone you can help, send them.
The Texas Game Wardens declared they had arrived at the camp and were starting to remove campers just after 7 p.m. on Friday. However, it is still unclear what happened to many of the unaccounted for.
For almost a century, Texans’ girls, particularly those from the state’s political elite, have turned to Camp Mystic, which provides two 4-week terms and one 2-week term throughout the summer.
According to a 2011 Texas Monthly story, the daughters of former Texas governors Price Daniel, Dan Moody, and John Connally are among the so-called “mystic girls,” or campers. The daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters of former President Lyndon B. Johnson were also there.
Laura Bush, the first lady, worked as a camp counselor. Most counselors are college-age, and some start working there as soon as they graduate from high school.
Due of the river’s passage through Hunt, summer camps are frequently held there.Camp Mystic is about a 7-minute drive north of Camp La Junta, an all-boys summer camp. All campers are safe, according to Camp La Junta.
Ruffin Boyett, a young Camp La Junta attendee, told KSATWalls collapsed in the middle of the night, and the cabins were flooding. He claimed that before swimming to safety, campers waited on rafters. Floodwaters reached the top level of the bunkbeds, forcing Ruffin’s younger brother to swim out of his cabin.
He stated that our only option was to swim out of our cabins.
Hunt has a population of little over 1,300, but young campers cause the small city’s population to grow over the summer. Hunt operates nearly a dozen summer camps along the Guadalupe River, making them one of his most profitable ventures.
A mile north of Camp Mystic lies the girls’ summer camp, Heart O the Hills. Fortunately, according to the camp’s Facebook page, camp was not in session, and everyone who spent the weekend at campgrounds has been accounted for.
However, Heart O the Hills acknowledged that Jane Ragsdale, its camp director, is among the water victims.
According to the message, “We are grieving the loss of a woman who changed the lives of countless people and was the epitome of strong and powerful.”
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