No less than 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic in Texas have died in devastating flash flooding that swept by way of the area, the camp introduced Monday. No less than 105 folks have died within the flooding that struck Texas Hill Country on Friday.
Throughout a information convention Monday morning, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha stated 10 campers and one counselor have been nonetheless unaccounted for as search and rescue operations proceed.
“Our hearts are damaged alongside our households which are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” the camp stated in an announcement on its website. “We’re praying for them always.”
The camp expressed gratitude for the assist it is acquired from folks within the wake of the devastating floods.
“We ask on your continued prayers, respect and privateness for every of our households affected,” the camp stated. “Might the Lord proceed to wrap His presence round all of us.”
The Kerr County Sheriff’s workplace stated Monday on social media that official identifications for the stays of twenty-two adults and 10 kids recovered in Kerr County have been nonetheless pending.
“This might be a tough week,” Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. stated. “Major search continues, and we stay hopeful each foot, each mile, each bend of the river.”
Kerrville Metropolis Supervisor Dalton Rice instructed reporters that scammers have contacted some households to make the most of the uncertainty surrounding the state of affairs.
“Victims’ households are being reached out to, saying that they’ve their children: ‘Pay me cash,'” Rice stated. “It is heartbreaking, it is completely heartbreaking.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz stated one Camp Mystic mum or dad instructed him about being harassed on-line as a result of it turned public that their woman was lacking.
“Look, there are lots of people who’re tousled,” Cruz stated. “… This can be a time simply to achieve out, assist one another.”
Reuters/Sergio Flores
On the White Home, press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated President Trump could be touring to Texas later this week. Mr. Trump over the weekend permitted a serious catastrophe declaration request for the flooding, opening up federal assets.
“Might God bless the nice folks of Texas, particularly the mother and father who’ve misplaced their kids,” Leavitt stated.
About 750 kids have been on the camp when the flooding struck, Leitha has stated. Camp Mystic describes itself as a non-public Christian summer season camp for women situated on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
Movies posted to TikTok by a Houston nurse present a bus filled with campers singing worship songs as they fled the realm, passing by floodwaters, particles and crews that responded to the catastrophe, CBS Texas reported.
At a vigil in Houston on Monday evening, Camp Mystic alum Lauren Hamner, whose daughter summers on the camp, stated music is central to the neighborhood.
“I am listening to studies of the advisors main the ladies in track and prayer on the peak of the floodwaters inside buildings and on the base of bushes on a hill whereas lightning and storms raged,” Hamner stated. “Lord have mercy, they understood the project.”
The river rapidly rose early on the Fourth of July, catching many individuals off guard. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick instructed reporters Friday the river rose about 26 toes in 45 minutes.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has described the devastation on the camp as “nothing wanting horrific” after visiting the location over the weekend.
“It, and the river operating beside it, have been horrendously ravaged in methods not like I’ve seen in any pure catastrophe,” Abbott wrote on social media. “The peak the dashing water reached to the highest of cabins was surprising. We can’t cease till we discover each woman who was in these cabins.”
Reuters/Marco Bello 
Camp Mystic’s proprietor and director, Dick Eastland, 74, died whereas attempting to avoid wasting women on the camp, according to local media reports.
The victims from the camp additionally included 8-year-old Linnie McCown of Austin, her father confirmed to CBS Information. Chloe Childress, an 18-year-old counselor from the Houston space who had simply graduated from highschool, additionally died within the storm, in line with the Kinkaid College.
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, 8-year-old twin sisters, have been additionally among the many victims, their father instructed CBS Information.
“Hanna and Rebecca introduced a lot pleasure to us, to their massive sister Harper, and to so many others,” their mother and father stated in an announcement. “We are going to discover methods to maintain that pleasure, and to proceed to unfold it for them. However we’re devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with one another, is now frozen in time. Thanks for the love and assist.”
Their grandfather, David Lawrence Jr., additionally launched an announcement to the Miami Herald and Detroit Free Press, two newspapers the place he had been writer.
“It has been an unimaginable time for all of us. Hanna and Rebecca gave their mother and father John and Lacy and sister Harper, and all in our household, a lot pleasure,” Lawrence stated. “They and that pleasure can by no means be forgotten.”
John Lawrence 
Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter stated his two grandchildren survived, however their cousin, 9-year-old Janie Hunt, died. She’s associated to Kansas Metropolis Chiefs proprietor Clark Hunt.
“God has wrapped his arms round her,” Carter instructed Fox Information Channel. “And our ideas and prayers are with all of these concerned.”
Camp Mystic campers Eloise Peck, 8, and 9-year-old Lila Bonner additionally died within the flooding. Bonner’s household confirmed to CBS Texas on Saturday that she was among the many kids confirmed useless, and Peck’s household on Sunday posted a observe at their house saying she had died, as nicely.
The catastrophic flooding has triggered an enormous response from authorities conducting rescue and restoration missions.
Based on Abbott, greater than 1,500 state personnel have been deployed to the flood zone.
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