Cabin full of people washed away by historic Texas floods
Flashes of yellow light flickered from a flashlight inside the home, briefly illuminating the chaos as it floated past. 'Oh my god, there's so many people in it,' a male bystander could be heard saying in shock. 'Oh my god,' a woman could be heard saying behind him.
It is unclear if any of the home's occupants were injured and if they got to safety. People have speculated the home looks like a counselor's cabin at Camp La Junta in Hunt. Daily Mail has reached out to Camp La Junta for comment. On Friday afternoon, the camp took to Facebook to announce that 'everyone at Camp La Junta is safe and accounted for.'
'We are working with authorities for the next step,' the statement read. 'We appreciate your prayers.' Other summer camps have not been so fortunate. The nearby Camp Mystic, a summer program for girls, confirmed that at least some of its campers were unaccounted for on Friday afternoon.
The summer camp, which is situated along the Guadalupe River, was evacuated overnight after heavy rainfall caused flash floods. Dozens of water rescues are taking place across Kerr County today. Kerr County's top lawmaker, Judge Rob Kelly, revealed one of the 13 people so-far confirmed dead in the Guadalupe River floods was unclothed.
Kelly said: 'One of them was completely naked. They didn't have any ID on them.' The Guadalupe River rose to its second-highest height on record today at a height of 34 feet, the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed early Friday morning. The river's highest height was 36 feet, recorded during a major flood in 1987 when nearly 12 inches of rain fell in the town of Hunt.
Officials say restoration efforts have been slowed by flooding and downed power lines. All of Kerr County is considered to be an 'extremely active scene', Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha said in the statement.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Cabin of children swept away in flooding at Texas summer camp pictured
An entire cabin of young girls are either dead or missing after they were swept away in flash floods in Texas. At least nine of the children staying in the Bubble Inn cabin at theChristian summer camp lost their lives in the flooding, according to reports. The girls, aged between eight and 10, were staying in a cabin located a short distance from Texas's Guadalupe River, which burst its banks in the early hours of Friday. Towns across central Texas were devastated by the floods. The county where the summer camp is located previously rejected plans to install a flooding alarm system because it was seen as 'too extravagant'. More than 100 people were killed across the state after the Guadalupe River surged by 26 feet in the space of 45 minutes on July 4, authorities said on Monday. Girls and counsellors staying in Camp Mystic's Bubble Inn cabin were located less than 500 feet from the river and were quickly swept away. The once idyllic retreat with green-roofed cabins with names such as 'Wiggle Inn' has been devastated by the flood, with the huts uprooted and destroyed alongside discarded vehicles. Of those pictured, the bodies of nine of the girls and Chloe Childress, an 18-year-old counsellor, have been located. The children who have died have been named as Janie Hunt, Margaret Bellows, Lila Bonner, Sarah Marsh, Linnie McCown, Wynne Naylor, Eloise Peck, Renee Smajstrla and Mary Stevens. Katherine Ferruzzo and the three remaining campers remain missing, according to reports. In total, 27 campers and counsellors from Camp Mystic have been killed, while 11 more remain missing. Childress's family said in a statement that she 'lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith.' They added: 'Returning as a counsellor to the place she loved so dearly, Chloe was looking forward to dedicating her summer days to loving and mentoring young girls at Camp Mystic.' The family of Eloise Peck said that their daughter had died alongside her best friend Lila Bonner. 'Eloise was literally friends with everyone. She loved spaghetti but not more than she loved dogs and animals. She passed away with her cabinmate and best friend Lila Bonner who also died,' her mother, Missy Peck, told Fox. 'Eloise had a family who loved her fiercely for the eight years she was with us. Especially her Mommy.' Dick Eastland, the owner and director of Camp Mystic, also reportedly died while trying to rescue campers. Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, said 700 girls were in residence at the camp when the flood hit. The girls staying at Camp Mystic were generally not allowed access to their phones or other electronic devices, per 2025 summer policies and procedures. Sniffer dogs, drones and helicopters from state and local agencies have been drafted in to continue the search for survivors. Officials in Kerr County, which bore the brunt of the floods and has reported at least 75 deaths, had previously decided against installing sirens along the river despite the region of Texas being known as 'Flash Flood Alley'. Tom Moser, a former county commissioner, pushed for creating a warning system in 2016 but told The New York Times it did not materialise over budget concerns. A commissioner who voted against approving a study for the project reportedly said: 'I think this whole thing is a little extravagant for Kerr County, with sirens and such.' The county also applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) for a $1 million (£735 million) grant to build a warning system in 2017, but was not selected. A Kerr County hazard mitigation plan from the autumn designated installing sirens along the river a 'high priority' and stated they would cost as little as $1,000 per device. Instead, residents were dependent on text alerts sent out by the National Weather Service which arrived shortly after 1am and 4am on Friday morning, when most would have been asleep. Ted Cruz, the Texas senator, warned on Monday that the death toll would continue to climb as the state braces for continued flooding. Mr Cruz, who said he had picked up his own daughter from the camp last week, told reporters that the disaster had 'broken the heart of our state'. 'The children, little girls, who were lost at Camp Mystic – that's every parent's nightmare,' he said. Just last week, Heidi and I were picking up our daughter from camp in Hunt, Texas. The pain and shock of what has transpired these last few days has broken the heart of our state. Pray for Texas. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 7, 2025 He added: 'There's still 10 girls and one counsellor from Camp Mystic that are unaccounted for. And the pain and agony of not knowing your child's whereabouts, it's the worst thing imaginable. 'If we could go back and do it again, we would evacuate... the young children in the cabins closest to the water,' Mr Cruz said. 'We would remove them and get them to higher ground.' Democrats are demanding an investigation into whether cuts by Donald Trump's administration, overseen by his former ally Elon Musk, left Texans unprepared. Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, formally called for a probe in a letter to the commerce department's inspector general, writing: 'We must do everything possible to provide answers as to why the community was not alerted sooner that dangerously high floodwaters were imminent.' However, experts have largely said that although positions were unfilled in local National Weather Service stations, staffing levels were adequate and the issue lay in local warning systems. Residents in central Texas were warned of a 'moderate' storm at about 1.18pm on Thursday, with the NWS initial flood watch predicting 5-7in of rain. This was the first in a series of bulletins that grew increasingly serious in the early hours of Friday before a 'threat to life' was issued at 4.03am. As the situation escalated, harrowing footage showed a large cabin floating down the Guadalupe River in Hill County, with yellow lights flickering from within as panicked voices echoed in the night. 'Oh my God, there's so many people in it,' a bystander was heard saying as the cabin disappeared into the current. Mr Trump on Sunday fiercely rejected the suggestion that cuts had led to needless deaths, while the White House labelled the claim 'disgusting'. Mr Cruz accused Democrats of 'partisan finger-pointing' and claimed their arguments were 'contradicted by the facts'. 'Just immediately trying to use it for either side to attack their political opponents, I think that's cynical and not the right approach, particularly at a time when we're dealing with a crisis and we're dealing with grief,' he said. The National Weather Service warned of further flooding on Monday until 7pm local time and said some areas could expect up to 10 inches of 'very intense' rainfall. 'There remains a threat of flash flooding from slow-moving heavy rains overnight and through the day on Monday,' it said. Gregg Abbott, the Texas governor, on Sunday warned Texans to be 'extraordinarily cautious' over the following 48 hours over the risk of potential floods.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Disturbing message shooter, 27, wrote on side of car before opening fire on border agents near airport in ambush
A CHILLING message was spray-painted on the side of the supposed car of a gunman who was shot dead after ambushing border patrol agents this morning. The man, identified as 27-year-old Ryan Louis Mosqueda, was killed on Monday after shooting at officials with a gun near a Texas airport. 2 2 The motive remains unclear. Mosqueda was shot and killed by agents during the shootout, according to McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez. A McAllen police officer was injured in the knee but will be fine, police said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation tweeted that in total, two officers and one Border Patrol employee was injured. All three were taken to the hospital. The shooter had been reported missing just hours earlier from Weslaco, Texas. The car held more guns and ammunition, according to police, with what officials believe to be Latin writing inside of the vehicle. He was also carrying a backpack with more ammunition, Rodriguez said. On the side of a white Chevy photographed near the scene, the words "Cordis Die" was written in black spray paint across the driver side door. Although it is unclear exactly what "Cordis Die" stood for in this circumstance, the term is featured in 2012's Call of Duty: Black Ops II, a popular shooter video game, and stands for "Heart Day" in Latin. Watch Trump's border enforcer Kristi Noem tour El Salvador mega prison under gaze of skinhead gangsters deported from US In the game, it represents a militant anarchist terrorist organization that are the main antagonists of the story. Game publisher Activision did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "The threats are always looming, they're always present, and incidents like these make us realize that we've always got to be on guard," Rodriguez said. "I think I speak for everybody here, the world is much smaller than we think sometimes." He was carrying a Michigan driver's license, police said, and had Michigan plates on his vehicle. The shooting resulted in delays for flights at the McAllen Airport. 'I cannot tell you how many rounds were fired from the suspect, but there were many, many, many dozens of rounds fired by the suspect toward the building and toward agents in that building," Rodriguez said. "We have no reason to believe at this point in time that there are any more threats in this area." The FBI is now leading the investigation. "It takes events like these to really wake you up and say, you know what we're really, really tiny in terms of the world," Rodriguez said.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Man with assault rifle killed after shooting at Texas border patrol facility
A man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents and a US border patrol facility in Texas on Monday, injuring a police officer, before authorities shot and killed him. Authorities identified the shooter as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, believed to be 27, who they said shot at agents exiting the building, which is near the US-Mexico border. McAllen police chief, Victor Rodriguez, said Mosqueda had a 'utility vest' in addition to the rifle when federal agents returned fire. Hours before the attack in McAllen, Mosqueda's father was stopped by Weslaco police at about 2.30am for a traffic violation, according to police spokesperson Heriberto Caraveo. The father told police that he was looking for his son, who he said had psychological issues and was carrying weapons in his car, Caraveo told the Associated Press. Police say the white two-door sedan that Mosqueda drove to the facility had letters painted – possibly in Latin – on the driver's side door. 'What it means, or whether or not it is an underlying reason for him being here, I do not know,' Rodriguez said when asked about the graffiti. After Mosqueda was killed, law enforcement found other weaponry, ammunition and backpacks inside the vehicle. 'There are many, many more rounds of ammunition in his backpack,' Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said his department received a call about the shooting around 5:50am One officer who responded to the shooting, a 10-year veteran, was injured after being struck in the knee. Rodriguez said it was unclear if the injury was from shrapnel or a bullet. Police say Mosqueda was linked to a Michigan address, but was reported missing from a Weslaco, Texas, address around 4am Monday. Weslaco is about 20 miles (32km) from the border patrol facility. 'An hour and a few minutes later, he was at this particular location opening fire on the federal building and our federal agents,' Rodriguez said. The exact details of the missing person report were not immediately shared with the media. Rodriguez said there is no ongoing threat to the public, but it is unknown if any other people were involved in the attack. He said the motive and events leading up to the attack are part of the ongoing investigation, which the FBI is taking the lead on. The attack comes as Donald Trump 's administration ramps up deportations, which will be turbocharged by a sweeping spending bill that became law last week. Stephen Miller, the president's deputy chief of staff and chief architect of his immigration policies, recently set a target of at least 3,000 immigration arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of the administration.
