Young sisters, beloved educators among Texas flooding victims

CBC

08-07-2025

Authorities say more than 100 have been killed as search-and-rescue efforts ongoing
Three newly minted second graders, including eight-year-old twin sisters from Dallas. A camp director who served as a surrogate father to the girls under his care. These are a few of the scores of victims lost in devastating flash floods in central Texas.
The flooding in central Texas during a severe storm originated from the fast-moving waters on the Guadalupe River on Friday, killing more than 100 people.
Authorities say search-and-rescue efforts are still underway, including for campers missing from a summer camp for girls.
Mary Grace Baker
Mary Grace Baker, who had recently celebrated her First Holy Communion, was among the victims at Camp Mystic from the flash foods, her school announced.
"Mary Grace was a bright light in our close-knit school family, known for her kindness and friendship to all, her joyful spirit and her love for her faith and family," St. Anne Catholic School in Beaumont said on its Facebook page. "Her giggle was contagious, as was her spirit."
Mary Grace, 8, had just completed second grade. The school's post described her as a "girls' girl who loved pink sparkles and bows in her signature angelic ringlet curls." The school asked its community to place pink ribbons in trees in honour of Mary Grace after she went missing following the floods.
Joyce Badon
Joyce Catherine Badon, a 21-year-old senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design, died in the flooding, the school said in an email to the college community.
The architecture student was from Beaumont, Texas.
"A beloved daughter, friend, and classmate, Joyce was passionate about using her artistry and talent to impact the world, and had recently helped redesign donation centers for Goodwill," the school said in an email.
She was staying with three friends at a river home in Hunt, Texas. All had been reported missing.
"At 4 a.m. this morning, a flash flood came through and washed their cars away," her mother, Kellye Badon, posted on Facebook on the Fourth of July. "It happened so quickly with so much water, they could not get in the attic."
She said one of the friends called a parent as it was happening, then got washed away with two others. Kellye Badon said her daughter was the last person heard from on that call before the phone went dead.
James and Cindy Rushing
James and Cindy Rushing were camping along the Guadalupe River at the HTR TX Hill Country Campground on the Fourth of July when the flooding struck.
"The amount of grief my family is feeling is immeasurable," their son, James Evan Rushing, wrote in a social media post. "My parents have been found, and they are unfortunately gone. My heart is broken into pieces."
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After the flooding, their daughter, Tamra Blasius, visited their campsite and found nothing left.
"Everything gone — their camper, their truck, their belongings — completely washed away. There was no sign that anyone had ever been there. It was absolutely gut-wrenching," she wrote in a social media post on Saturday.
On Monday, she wrote that her "worst fears were confirmed — my parents were found and identified, but tragically, they did not survive."
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence were eight-year-old sisters from Dallas who were among the victims killed by the flooding at Camp Mystic.
The girls had just finished second grade, their parents said.
Image | Texas Flooding Victims
Caption: This undated photo shows eight-year-old twin sisters Hanna, left, and Rebecca Lawrence, right, of Dallas. (John Lawrence/The Associated Press)
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"Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper and to so many others," John and Lacy Lawrence said in a statement. "We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them. But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time."
David Lawrence, the girls' grandfather and former publisher of the Miami Herald, said that "it has been an unimaginable time for all of us."
Did climate change worsen Texas floods? Yes, study suggests
"They and that joy can never be forgotten," he said in a statement.
University Park Elementary School, which Hanna and Rebecca attended, said on its website that "numerous" students were in the Texas Hill Country during the flooding and had to evacuate. The school did not immediately respond to a message left Monday morning.
"We are deeply saddened to report the loss of multiple students, and our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families deeply affected by this unimaginable tragedy," the school said on its website.
Reece and Paula Zunker
Reece Zunker was described as "a passionate educator and a beloved soccer coach" by Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas.
"His unwavering dedication to our students, athletes, and the Tivy community touched countless lives and will never be forgotten," the school posted online on Sunday.
Paula Zunker was a former teacher at the school. "The care and impact she shared with her students continue to be felt, even years later," the post said.
The couple's young children, Lyle and Holland, were still missing, the school said.
The family had been staying at a river house in Hunt.
Dick Eastland
Among the dead is Dick Eastland, the Camp Mystic director.
Paige Sumner, a former camper, described him in a column in the local paper, the Kerrville Daily Times, as "the father figure to all of us while we were away from home."
Sumner spent one summer working in the camp office, balancing accounts for the commissary, where campers bought snacks and other essentials like stamps. She wrote that her desk was outside Eastland's office.
"He still put campers first in every situation," wrote Sumner, who is now the head of philanthropy at a community centre in Kerrville. "If an issue of any kind that needed attention came over the walkie-talkie, even a camper with a minor injury or the dreaded snake in the river, he would bolt out of the office and jump in a golf cart to get there as fast as he could."
Eastland's grandson, George Eastland, wrote in an Instagram post that his grandfather showed him what a strong Christian man looks like.
"If he wasn't going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for," he wrote.
In her column, Sumner noted that the camp had plans for rain.
"Usually," she explained, "it means they deliver a special breakfast of sweet rolls to each cabin or singing songs in the Rec Hall. This level of flooding was unprecedented."
In a brief telephone call as she grappled with the flood's aftermath at her own office, Sumner was reluctant to add more than she wrote in the column, saying the camp wanted privacy for the families.
"We are still holding out hope," she said. "They are broken; they are in shock."
Chloe Childress
Chloe Childress was among the counsellors at Camp Mystic who died in the devastating floods. Childress, 19, "lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith," her family said in a statement.
"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."
Childress had just graduated from the Kinkaid School in Houston, which praised her as deeply invested in her community.
"Chloe had a remarkable way of making people feel seen. She was wise beyond her years, with a steady compassion that settled a room," Jonathan Eads, the head of the school, said in a letter to the school's community on Sunday. "Whether it was sharing her own challenges to ease someone's burden or quietly cheering a teammate or classmate through a tough day, Chloe made space for others to feel safe, valued, and brave."
Janie Hunt, a relative of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, was just nine years old.
Her mother, Anne Hunt, confirmed her death to CNN, while her grandmother, Margaret Hunt, confirmed it to the Kansas City Star.
The Chiefs franchise declined to comment. But Clark Hunt's wife, Tavia Hunt, posted on Instagram and urged people to rely on their faith.
"If your heart is broken, I assure you God is near," Tavia Hunt, wrote in the post. "He is gentle with your wounds. And He is still worthy — even when your soul is struggling to believe it.
Tanya Burwick
The last time Tanya Burwick's family heard from her was a frantic phone call about the floodwaters as she headed to work at a Walmart early Friday in the San Angelo area. When Burwick didn't show up for work, her employer filed a missing persons report and sent a colleague to look for her.
Police investigating the 62-year-old's disappearance found Burwick's unoccupied SUV fully submerged later that day. Her body was found the next morning blocks from the vehicle.
"She lit up the room and had a laugh that made other people laugh," said Lindsey Burwick, who added that her mom was a beloved parent, grandparent and colleague to many.
She and her brother Zac said the day was especially difficult because it happened on the Fourth of July as they were working at a fireworks stand that's been in the family for generations.
As word of Tanya Burwick's disappearance spread, people from Blackwell, a small community of about 250 people, showed up to the stand that's run out of a trailer painted orange.
"People came to our aid," Lindsey Burwick said.
Police in San Angelo said more than 12,000 houses, barns and other buildings have been affected by the floods in the community of roughly 100,000 people.
"We ask that the public continue to keep the Burwick family in their thoughts and prayers as they navigate this heartbreaking tragedy," the San Angelo Police Department said in a Facebook post.
Jane Ragsdale
Jane Ragsdale, 68, devoted her life to the Heart O' the Hills Camp, a summer camp for girls in Texas Hill Country. She was a camper and counsellor there herself in the 1970s before becoming a co-owner. By the 1980s, she was director of the camp in Hunt, Texas.
"She was the heart of The Heart," the camp said in a statement. "She was our guiding light, our example, and our safe place. She had the rare gift of making every person feel seen, loved, and important."
Since the camp was between sessions, no children were staying there when the floodwaters rose. The camp's facilities, directly in the path of the flood, were extensively damaged and access to the site remained difficult, according to camp officials. The camp has been in existence since the 1950s.
Camp officials said Ragsdale would be remembered for her strength and wisdom.
"We are heartbroken. But above all, we are grateful," the camp said. "Grateful to have known her, to have learned from her, and to carry her light forward."
In a 2015 oral history for the Kerr County Historical Commission, Ragsdale, whose first name was Cynthie but who went by her middle name, Jane, talked about how her father was also a camp director and how much she enjoyed her experiences.
"I loved every minute of camp from the first time I stepped foot in one," she said.
Videos of Ragsdale strumming a guitar and singing to campers during a recent session were posted in a memorial on the camp's Facebook page: "Life is good today. So keep singing 'til we meet, again."
Sarah Marsh
Eight-year-old Sarah Marsh from Alabama had been attending Camp Mystic in Texas, a longtime Christian girls' camp in Hunt where several others were killed in the floods. As of Sunday, afternoon, 11 children were still missing.
Sarah was a student at Cherokee Bend Elementary in suburban Birmingham.
"This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school, and our entire community," Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch said in a Facebook post. "Sarah's passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those who knew and loved her."
He said the community — where about 20,000 people reside — would rally behind the Marsh family as they grieved.
Sarah's parents declined an interview request on Sunday "as they mourn this unbearable loss," the girl's grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh, told The Associated Press in an email.
"We will always feel blessed to have had this beautiful spunky ray of light in our lives. She will live on in our hearts forever!" Marsh wrote on Facebook. "We love you so much, sweet Sarah!"
Image | APTOPIX Extreme Weather Texas
Caption: A Camp Mystic sign is shown near the entrance to the summer camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area, in Hunt, Texas, on Saturday. (Julio Cortez/The Associated Press)
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She declined further comment.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama also noted the girl's tragic death.
"We continue to pray for the victims' loved ones, the survivors, those who are still missing, and our brave first responders as search and rescue efforts continue in Texas," she said in a post on social media platform X.
Blair and Brooke Harber
Sisters Blair and Brooke Harber, both students at St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas, had been staying along the Guadalupe River when their cabin was swept away, according to the school.
Pastor Joshua J. Whitfield of St. Rita Catholic Community, which shares a campus with the school, said the girls' parents, Annie and RJ Harber, were staying in a different cabin and were safe. However, their grandparents were unaccounted for. Annie Harber has been a longtime teacher at the school.
Blair, who was enrolled in advanced classes, was involved in numerous school activities from volleyball and basketball to speech and drama.
Brooke was a rising Grade 6 student and athlete in volleyball and lacrosse, among other sports. She also participated in speech and drama, according to the church.
Both were remembered for their kind hearts and warm personalities.
"We will honor Blair and Brooke's lives, the light they shared, and the joy they brought to everyone who knew them," Whitfield wrote in a Saturday letter to parishioners. "And we will surround Annie, RJ, and their extended family with the strength and support of our St. Rita community."
The church held a special prayer service Saturday afternoon and offered counselling.
"Please keep the Harber family in your prayers during this time of profound grief," Whitfield wrote. "May our faith, our love, and our St. Rita community be a source of strength and comfort in the days ahead."