What to know about claims two Mexican counselors saved 20 campers from deadly Texas floods
One such rumor purported that two counselors of Mexican heritage at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp along the bank of the Guadalupe River severely impacted by the flood, "rescued 20 girls trapped by the flooding," as one user on X (archived) put it.
The rumor was massively popular on other social media platforms as well, including Facebook (archived), TikTok (archived) and Instagram (archived).
Nearly every version of the rumor purported that the counselors in question were from Mexico, questioning if their ethnicity was the reason mainstream news was not adequately covering their heroic actions as a result of the ongoing mass deportation agenda of the Trump administration.
For instance, one Instagram post (archived) claimed about the rumor, "Two Mexican women saved 20 children from drowning in Texas. US media is not sharing the story." The popularity of the claim led numerous Snopes readers to reach out via email to check its veracity.
The rumor appeared to stem from an appearance of 19-year-olds Silvana Garza Valdez and María Paula Zárate on the Mexican news network NMás, in which they recounted their experiences during the flood.
Snopes was unable to independently verify Valdez and Zárate's employment at Camp Mystic, so we have opted not to include a rating on this claim. We've reached out to Camp Mystic and will update this article if we receive a response.
According to Valdez and Zárate, they were stationed at the Lake Cypress campground of Camp Mystic, which opened in 2020 and operated concurrently with the original campground. The Lake Cypress campground is situated on a hill and farther away from the Guadalupe River, which kept it from sustaining as much immediate damage as the original Camp Mystic site.
A map on Camp Mystic's website depicted the locations of each campground and said the Lake Cypress camp was "built on the hill that overlooks the back lake."
(Camp Mystic)
Around two minutes into the interview, Valdez clarified they (translated from Spanish) "were at the new camp, they are like two branches on the same land," referring to the Lake Cypress location. "The original camp … was like a loss, almost total … They explained to us that all the girls who survived the camp were in our dining hall."
Valdez explained they were told that the survivors waiting in the dining hall were going to be joining them in their cabins, so to keep their campers calm, they "organized all the girls to do welcome signs [and] to collect clothes that they want to donate because obviously they lost everything."
According to the two women, the survivors were ultimately evacuated before that happened, and so they began to prepare for their own rescue as well. "Before dinner we started preparing the girls as well as counselors because we thought that they were also going to evacuate us," Zárate said.
She continued, "So we started writing our names on our skin where it could be seen. We started to teach the girls to write their names where they could. We put their badges on them, their names, we told them to pack a suitcase with their things … we didn't know if they were going to evacuate or not. Then we were waiting."
The counselors tried to entertain the campers with games until their own rescue. "I did not understand the gravity of the situation until we left on the Army trucks," added Valdez.
At the end of the segment, one anchor said (translated from Spanish), "Imagine, they were 18 years old and had 20 little girls in their care." The claims suggesting Valdez and Zárate "rescued 20 girls trapped by the flooding" or "saved 20 children from drowning" appeared to embellish the specific details of the women's experience as told in their own words.
Further, the detail about campers writing their names on their bodies was spotlighted by outlets like The New York Post and The Latin Times, which may have contributed to the spread of the more hyperbolic version of the tale when it began making the rounds on social media.
Finally, during a news conference on July 5, 2025, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum referenced Valdez and Zárate, referring to them as "two young Mexican women who rescued other young girls." The statement occurs around 1 hour and 13 minutes into the conference, viewable on Sheinbaum's official YouTube channel, following a question from the press about the Texas floods.
Snopes has investigated other claims coming out of the Texas floods, including debunking the report that two young girls were found clinging to a tree after being swept away by floodwaters.
- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXOJ3Z1qSVo. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
---. https://www.youtube.com/live/oH2D5Y5Mch4. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
---. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXSmvBrqZww. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
Christensen, Laerke. "Watch out for Story about Rescuers Saving 2 Young Girls Clinging to Tree in Texas Floods." Snopes, 7 Jul. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/texas-floods-girls-found-in-tree/.
Cypress Lake | Camp Mystic for Girls. https://www.campmystic.com/cypress-lake/. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
"Death Toll from Catastrophic Flooding in Texas over the July Fourth Weekend Surpasses 100." AP News, 7 Jul. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/texas-flash-flood-severe-weather-camp-mystic-ef8e596833b145fef61451db92f32609.
FAQ – Cypress Lake | Camp Mystic for Girls. https://www.campmystic.com/cypress-lake/faq-cypress-lake/. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
Odisho, Taylor. "Camp Mystic Counselors Wrote Names of the Girls They Were Comforting On Their Arms While Waiting for Help: 'I Had to Stay Strong.'" Latin Times, 7 Jul. 2025, https://www.latintimes.com/camp-mystic-counselors-wrote-names-girls-they-were-comforting-their-arms-while-waiting-help-i-586270.
"Sheinbaum Reconoce a Mexicanas que Rescataron a Varias Niñas de Inundaciones en Texas." N+, 7 Jul. 2025, https://www.nmas.com.mx/nacional/politica/sheinbaum-reconoce-a-mexicanas-que-rescataron-a-jovenes-de-inundaciones-en-texas/.
"Two Camp Mystic Counselors from Mexico Describe Managing Campers through the Texas Floods." Los Angeles Times, 8 Jul. 2025, https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2025-07-07/two-mexican-camp-mystic-counselors-texas-floods.
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