On Sunday, families and rescuers combed through muddy wreckage and stepped into water-stained cabins at Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls summer camp devastated by sudden flash floods that have claimed at least 70 lives across central Texas.
The floods, triggered by torrential rains, suddenly swept through the Texas Hill Country where multiple summer camps had been, rising 26 feet in just 45 minutes before dawn on Friday morning. Homes were torn from their foundations, vehicles carried away, and beloved spaces like Camp Mystic reduced to rubble.
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Among the dead, officials in Kerr County confirmed at least 59 deaths, including 21 children – 16 of them girls whose bodies were recovered from the camp. Another 11 girls and a counselor remained missing as of Sunday with an unknown number of others across the state still unaccounted for.
Rescue teams, facing treacherous conditions and persistent rain, worked around the clock. “We won’t stop until everybody is found,” vowed Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha. “This is our community. These are our children.”
/**/The heartbreak was visible as families were allowed back into the Christian summer camp on Sunday morning. One father quietly walked the river’s edge, searching through twisted trees and overturned rocks, his daughter having narrowly escaped from a cabin perched on the camp’s highest ground.
Another little girl, 8-year-old Sarah Marsh, is known to be among the victims who lost their lives. Her grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh, confirmed the loss to the Associated Press. “We will always feel blessed to have had this beautiful spunky ray of light in our lives. She will live on in our hearts forever!” Marsh wrote on Facebook. “We love you so much, sweet Sarah!”
At another camp, Heart O’the Hills Camp, the 68-year-old camp director was among the flood victims. Jane Ragsdale reportedly devoted her life to the girls’ camp, having attended as a camper and later as a counselor in the 1970s before becoming a co-owner.
“She was the heart of The Heart,” the camp said in a statement. “She was our guiding light, our example, and our safe place. She had the rare gift of making every person feel seen, loved, and important.”
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Governor Greg Abbott designated Sunday a statewide day of prayer, urging unity in faith and resilience in the face of tragedy. “I urge every Texan to join me in prayer this Sunday — for the lives lost, for those still missing, for the recovery of our communities, and for the safety of those on the front lines,” he said in a statement.
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