Lt. Governor Dan Patrick spoke at the State Emergency Operations Center in Austin yesterday and shared some bad news regarding the girls who are still missing following the floods in Central Texas this week that came out of nowhere and were quite bad. Around 750 girls went to Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls only on the banks of the Guadalupe River. Families, first responders, and the whole community are astonished that twenty-three of them are still missing.
A storm that no one saw coming dropped more than a foot of rain in less than three hours on Friday, July 4, soon after noon. This caused the river to climb to its second-highest level ever.
Cabins that were barely a few steps from the water’s edge were swamped in minutes, forcing counselors and many campers to execute emergency evacuation preparations. With support from officials, most of the girls were able to go to higher ground, but the floodwaters were so fierce that they took over huge portions of the camp before rescue workers got there.
Families of the missing people are held in limbo since Ingram Elementary School and neighboring churches have put up makeshift information centers. Mothers cry as they talk about the last time they heard their daughters’ voices or got a message. They clutch on to images of their daughters. One father, his voice quivering with emotion, recounted about how he and his wife searched frantically before the National Guard told them to go back. Another mother told how her daughter insisted on staying behind to help younger campers tie life vests to poles, even though the situation was getting worse.
A lot more people are looking for and rescuing people since Lieutenant Governor Patrick’s statement. More than 300 first responders, including Texas Parks and Wildlife dive teams, U.S. Coast Guard boat crews, volunteer Swiftwater Rescue professionals, and National Guard aircraft, are carefully searching both the underwater remains of Camp Mystic and a two-mile stretch of the Guadalupe River downstream. They’ve already identified 19 bodies of flood victims using high-resolution sonar scanners, drones with thermal imaging, and K-9 teams trained to sniff individuals above water. Every discovery reveals how severe the flood was and how much work still needs to be done.
Local officials say that the fast-moving water, hidden trash, and unstable riverbanks are making things harder than before. Sheriff Larry Leitha of Kerr County said, “We’re basically looking for kids who are stuck under buildings that have fallen down in dirty, murky water.” “It’s hard and dangerous, but we won’t stop until we’ve followed every lead.”
People have been giving the National Weather Service a hard time lately because they question if better or earlier flash-flood warnings could have spared some of the campers at Camp Mystic. The San Angelo and San Antonio forecast offices have been short on staff for the last two years because of budget shortages. Some folks argue that these cuts cost them critical hours since their antiquated radar equipment couldn’t keep up with how quickly the storm got worse. A spokesperson for the NWS noted that even though they send out warnings all the time, the rain came down faster than they imagined it would.
Even while the forecasts disagree, one thing is clear: Camp Mystic and the other communities are still grappling with a disaster that few saw coming. Churches and nonprofits have banded together to supply search teams and families who have had to abandon their homes everything from bottled drinks and snacks to dry clothes and sleeping bags that won’t get wet. Businesses in the region have donated flat-bottom boats, inflatable rafts, and flashlights that don’t get wet. Volunteers have turned school gyms into places where families can get back together. They show images of the missing and give real-time updates from rescue command posts.
Lawmakers from both parties are asking for a complete examination of the weather warning systems and flood prevention infrastructure along the Guadalupe River at the State Capitol. Some suggestions include to upgrade flood gauges, invest in community-based alert systems like text messaging that are linked to county sirens, and make it easier for state forecasters and local emergency managers to talk to each other. “We owe it to these families and to every Texan who lives near our waterways to learn from this tragedy and get ready for the storms of tomorrow,” said Lieutenant Governor Patrick.
Parents are still waiting for news, hoping that some of the missing girls may still be alive. Counselors who survived the flood remember hearing faint cries as they took campers out of their cabins. They still think that some of the girls may have found sanctuary in the woodlands or bushes nearby or upstream. One counselor said, “We won’t give up on any of them.” She sounded strong, even if she was tired. “Every child should be able to go home.”
As the sun sets over Central Texas, the last light makes the fields that have been flooded gleam. Rescue boats drift gently over the currents that are still there. People are still looking for the missing campers at Camp Mystic. They are doing it with determination, faith, and a strong belief in the power of community. Every hour that goes by is a test of strength for the families. The search for those 23 girls has become a serious duty and a beacon of hope in the middle of the ocean for everyone involved.