Camp Mystic girls sob and sing campfire songs as they are evacuated from horrifying Texas flood zone: video
A Camp Mystic nurse captured these harrowing scenes as she and hundreds of other campers and staffers were evacuated from the devastated scene following Friday's catastrophic floods.
Devon Paige had been working at the girls' Christian summer camp when surging waters tore through the area, drowning at least 69 people and leaving 11 girls unaccounted for in Kerr County.
'I wish you could see 'before' shots to show how devastating it is,' she wrote under one video taken from the back of a law enforcement truck, showing cars scattered like toys and rural houses reduced to matchsticks.
In another video, a busload of young girls sing worship songs in between weeping as they ride through the devastation to a reunification center.
'The girls are singing to try and calm everyone,' Page wrote.
More than 850 people were rescued within 36 hours of the start of the flash flooding, which came after a sudden storm dumped more than a foot of rain on the region.
The waters tore through the old buildings at Camp Mystic, sweeping away scores of campers and counselors or trapping them in their bunks.
Thirty-eight adults and 21 children have been confirmed dead, but 18 adult victims and four children have not yet been identified.
Five girls from Camp Mystic, ages 8 and 9, are among the dead — along with the camp's owner.
Some 400 first responders from 20 city, state, and national agencies are frantically searching for 11 girls and a counselor who are still missing from the camp, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a Sunday press conference.
When asked why the camps weren't evacuated before the water level rose, and whether emergency alerts went out in time, Leitha and city manager Dalton Rice declined to comment, abruptly ending Sunday's 10 a.m. press conference.
Rescuers face toppled trees, overturned cars, large piles of mud-filled debris, and other obstacles as they continue their rescue efforts.
Originally published as Camp Mystic girls sob and sing campfire songs as they are evacuated from horrifying Texas flood zone: video
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The Age
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- The Age
‘Only a very evil person would ask': Trump lashes out at reporter while visiting Texas flood zone
'I'll tell you some other time,' Trump said on Tuesday, when asked by a reporter about FEMA. Before the most recent flooding, Kerr County declined to install an early-warning system after failing to secure state money to cover the cost. Lawrence Walker, 67, and a nearly three-decade veteran resident of Kerrville, said the county and state had not spent enough on disaster prevention, including an early-warning system. Asked about the quality of the government response, he said, 'It's been fine since the water was at 8 feet.' The Texas state legislature will convene in a special session later this month to investigate the flooding and provide disaster relief funding. Abbott has dismissed questions about whether anyone was to blame, calling that the 'word choice of losers.' Dozens still unaccounted for Search teams on Friday were still combing through muddy debris littering parts of the Hill Country in central Texas, looking for the dozens still listed as missing, but no survivors have been found since the day of the floods. Heavy rains sent a wall of water raging down the Guadalupe River early on July 4, causing the deadliest disaster of the Republican president's nearly six-month term in office. As sun poked through dark clouds on Friday morning, search crews in hard hats painstakingly walked inch-by-inch along the ruined banks of the river, marking damage and looking through wreckage. After the president arrived in Kerr County in the early afternoon, Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott drove to an area near the river, where Trump received a briefing from first responders amid debris left in the wake of the flood. The county is located in what is known as 'flash flood alley,' a region that has seen some of the country's deadliest floods. More than a foot of rain fell in less than an hour on July 4. Flood gauges showed the river's height rose from about a foot to 34 feet (10.4 meters) in a matter of hours, cascading over its banks and sweeping away trees and structures in its path. Kerr County officials say more than 160 people remain unaccounted for, although experts say that the number of people reported missing in the wake of disasters is often inflated. The dead include at least 36 children, many of whom were campers at the nearly century-old Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the river. Jon Moreno, 71, a longtime Kerrville resident whose property on high ground was spared, praised the government response - local and federal. He has heard the debate about what more could have been done - including sirens - but said he did not think it would have made much difference, given people's desire to build along the flood-prone riverbanks. Loading 'It's unavoidable,' he said. 'All those people along the river - I wouldn't want to live there ... It's too dangerous.' At Stripes, a gas station in Kerrville, the building was tagged in large white letters, accusing 'Trump's Big Beautiful Bill' of cutting 'our emergency funding.' The president's massive legislative package, which cut taxes and spending, won approval from the Republican-controlled Congress last week and was signed into law by Trump on the same day that the flooding hit Texas.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Only a very evil person would ask': Trump lashes out at reporter while visiting Texas flood zone
'I'll tell you some other time,' Trump said on Tuesday, when asked by a reporter about FEMA. Before the most recent flooding, Kerr County declined to install an early-warning system after failing to secure state money to cover the cost. Lawrence Walker, 67, and a nearly three-decade veteran resident of Kerrville, said the county and state had not spent enough on disaster prevention, including an early-warning system. Asked about the quality of the government response, he said, 'It's been fine since the water was at 8 feet.' The Texas state legislature will convene in a special session later this month to investigate the flooding and provide disaster relief funding. Abbott has dismissed questions about whether anyone was to blame, calling that the 'word choice of losers.' Dozens still unaccounted for Search teams on Friday were still combing through muddy debris littering parts of the Hill Country in central Texas, looking for the dozens still listed as missing, but no survivors have been found since the day of the floods. Heavy rains sent a wall of water raging down the Guadalupe River early on July 4, causing the deadliest disaster of the Republican president's nearly six-month term in office. As sun poked through dark clouds on Friday morning, search crews in hard hats painstakingly walked inch-by-inch along the ruined banks of the river, marking damage and looking through wreckage. After the president arrived in Kerr County in the early afternoon, Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott drove to an area near the river, where Trump received a briefing from first responders amid debris left in the wake of the flood. The county is located in what is known as 'flash flood alley,' a region that has seen some of the country's deadliest floods. More than a foot of rain fell in less than an hour on July 4. Flood gauges showed the river's height rose from about a foot to 34 feet (10.4 meters) in a matter of hours, cascading over its banks and sweeping away trees and structures in its path. Kerr County officials say more than 160 people remain unaccounted for, although experts say that the number of people reported missing in the wake of disasters is often inflated. The dead include at least 36 children, many of whom were campers at the nearly century-old Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the river. Jon Moreno, 71, a longtime Kerrville resident whose property on high ground was spared, praised the government response - local and federal. He has heard the debate about what more could have been done - including sirens - but said he did not think it would have made much difference, given people's desire to build along the flood-prone riverbanks. Loading 'It's unavoidable,' he said. 'All those people along the river - I wouldn't want to live there ... It's too dangerous.' At Stripes, a gas station in Kerrville, the building was tagged in large white letters, accusing 'Trump's Big Beautiful Bill' of cutting 'our emergency funding.' The president's massive legislative package, which cut taxes and spending, won approval from the Republican-controlled Congress last week and was signed into law by Trump on the same day that the flooding hit Texas.
West Australian
a day ago
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Trump arrives in Texas to survey flood damage
US President Donald Trump has arrived in Texas to survey the damage caused by flash flooding and to meet with local officials, first responders and relatives of some of the 120 people killed in the July 4 disaster. His visit comes at the end of a week of mounting questions about the government response to the deadly deluge and hopes of finding any more survivors nearly extinguished. Search teams have combed through muddy debris littering parts of the Texas Hill Country, looking for the dozens still listed as missing, but no survivors have been found since the day of flooding. Last Friday, torrential rains sent a wall of water raging down the Guadalupe River in the pre-dawn hours of the US Independence Day holiday. The disaster is the deadliest of the Republican president's nearly six-month term in office. As sun poked through dark clouds on Friday, search crews in hard hats painstakingly walked inch-by-inch along the ruined banks of the river, marking damage and looking through wreckage. "It's a horrible thing," Trump told reporters as he departed the White House with First Lady Melania Trump. "Nobody can even believe it, such a thing - that much water that fast." Air Force One touched down at Kelly Field air base in San Antonio at about noon. Trump travelled by helicopter to Kerrville, the epicentre of the flooding in south-central Texas, where he spoke with relatives of the victims and emergency responders, according to a White House official. He was set to listen to a briefing from local officials and tour sites in Kerr County. The county is located in what is known as "flash flood alley," a region that has been the scene of some of the deadliest floods in the United States. More than 30cm of rain fell in less than an hour on July 4. Flood gauges showed the river's height rose from about 30cm to 10.4 metres in a matter of hours, cascading over its banks and sweeping away trees and structures in its path. Kerr County officials say more than 160 people remain unaccounted for, although experts say that the number of people reported missing after disasters is often inflated. The dead include at least 36 children, many of whom were campers at the nearly century-old Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the river. Local and federal officials have faced scrutiny for their response, including questions about whether they could have done more to warn people of the rising floodwaters. Before the most recent flooding, the county declined to install an early-warning system after failing to secure state money to cover the cost. In an interview with NBC on Thursday ahead of the trip, Trump appeared to support any fresh initiative to install such alarms. "After having seen this horrible event, I would imagine you'd put alarms up in some form," Trump said. The Texas state legislature will convene in a special session later this month to investigate the flooding and provide disaster relief funding. The US Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, on Monday asked a government watchdog to investigate whether cuts at the National Weather Service affected the forecasting agency's response. The NWS has defended its forecasting and emergency management, noting it assigned extra forecasters to two Texas offices over the holiday weekend. Trump's administration has said the agency was sufficiently staffed and responded adequately. On NBC, Trump described the flooding as a "once-in-every-200-year event".
