TX TX-Hunt, Overnight flooding at Camp Mystic, all girls camp. Unknown number of missing. July 4, 2025

[CrimeDawg123]

Unbelievable how the flooding could have been this bad in this day in age. Usually they build dams and have other safety precautions to make sure catostraphic flooding like this never occurs. The pictures they are showing look like the area was struck by a tornado or hurricane.

There are dams. Many, many dams! Rivers in Texas generally flow from the northwest to the southeast, into the Gulf of Mexico. The Guadalupe river flows southeast into Canyon Lake and beyond. Flooding happens regularly on this river on either side of the dam.

The only way to have ample drinking water and some sort of flood control in the Texas Hill Country is by using dams to collect floodwaters. The key thing to understand is that there is so much water that, even dammed, the rivers still flashflood. It's unavoidable given the terrain, lack of top soil, and source of water from the Gulf of Mexico. The flooding, however terrible, is a blessing for the supply of drinking water.

Another thing I think might be getting missed here is the widespread area of flooding that happened over the weekend. From the Guadalupe River near Kerrville to the Llano River 60 miles or so north, from Mason to the west 100+ miles or so to east of Georgetown and Austin. Many, many creeks and rivers flooded over a huge area. We're hearing about the Guadalupe because of so many deaths there, but it was bad everywhere.

 

[iamshadow21]

Equusearch is on the ground!

Texas floods live updates: More than 80 dead as search for survivors intensifies

Texas floods live updates: More than 80 dead as search for survivors intensifies

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Dotta]

“I had about 200 kids — scared, cold, and terrified. Probably the worst day of their lives.”Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskin shares how he helped save 165 people during the devastating Texas floods at Camp Mystic.

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Wow!
This guy has nerves of steel and a brave heart!!!
I predict a brilliant career for him in the Military
Already he is praised left & right!
And on his FIRST Rescue Mission.

Well done Petty Officer!
(a General soon??? )

JMO

 

[CrimeDawg123]

There are dams. Many, many dams! Rivers in Texas generally flow from the northwest to the southeast, into the Gulf of Mexico. The Guadalupe river flows southeast into Canyon Lake and beyond. Flooding happens regularly on this river on either side of the dam.

The only way to have ample drinking water and some sort of flood control in the Texas Hill Country is by using dams to collect floodwaters. The key thing to understand is that there is so much water that, even dammed, the rivers still flashflood. It's unavoidable given the terrain, lack of top soil, and source of water from the Gulf of Mexico. The flooding, however terrible, is a blessing for the supply of drinking water.

Another thing I think might be getting missed here is the widespread area of flooding that happened over the weekend. From the Guadalupe River near Kerrville to the Llano River 60 miles or so north, from Mason to the west 100+ miles or so to east of Georgetown and Austin. Many, many creeks and rivers flooded over a huge area. We're hearing about the Guadalupe because of so many deaths there, but it was bad everywhere.

Information about the dams in the area:

Home - Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority

GBRA’s main functions are providing utility services and operations to communities and customers throughout the Guadalupe River Basin for the benefit of the environment and people.

www.gbra.org

Canyon Reservoir - Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority

www.gbra.org

LCRA dams form the Highland Lakes - LCRA - Energy, Water, Community

www.lcra.org

 

[CrimeDawg123]

I appreciate the labeled map. Cross referencing it to the flood plains map on FEMA Flood Map Service Center | Search By Address, nearly the whole camp is in flood plains. It's unfathomable to me that it was allowed to be built. One more thing to check before sending my kids anywhere. View attachment 600389

Hear me out. Rain in Texas is feast or famine. When it rains, it usually floods. These properties on the Guadalupe river are generational, having been there since being settled and ranched, certainly before any flood plain maps.

I know it seems crazy for there to be a kids camp there, but honestly, where else would it be? These are beautiful slices of heaven in an unforgiving landscape. We usually have rain around the 4th of July, and it usually is the last rain for months - the spigot literally shuts off. When it does, temperatures soar to 100F and beyond, the land becomes dry as a bone, it's a hellscape. There is literally nowhere else you'd want to be but by one of the clear, beautiful, cypress lined rivers of the Texas Hill Country. I would send my kid to a camp there in a heartbeat.

 

[Chimera]

Equusearch is on the ground!

Texas floods live updates: More than 80 dead as search for survivors intensifies

Texas floods live updates: More than 80 dead as search for survivors intensifies

www.nbcnews.com

Good to hear !!!

Bless all of the searchers in this heartrending task.

 

[Marie A]

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This is really touching- video of Mystic campers on the way to the reunification center and a view of some of the damage.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

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This is really touching- video of Mystic campers on the way to the reunification center and a view of some of the damage.

Thank you for sharing. This hit me hard, on so many levels.

 

[PunishThenForgive]

Whatever happens, there are going to be changes.

I know Camp Mystic, and probably others like it, had a 'device free' policy. I wonder, if Camp Mystic is able to rebuild and survive this, one of the changes will be that counselors at least are able to keep and use their phones. They'd be able to receive phone weather alerts, and call for help. I don't know that it would have made any difference, here. Possibly not. But it would be something other than screaming into the dark as the water fills your cabin, surrounded by kids you can't save.

MOO

That is a fantastic point. The NWS alerts go out through radio, tv, and cell phones (via text message). My phone blows up whenever there’s a tornado or flash flood warning nearby. Those girls and camp counselors were sitting ducks.

Of course, cell phones didn’t save everyone. As you know, sisters Brooke and Blair Harbor texted their parents right before they died and were found 15 miles away with their hands still locked together. It’s tragic.

Sisters Who Died in Texas Floodwaters Were Found with Hands 'Locked Together,' Aunt Says

 

[Cryptic]

Unbelievable how the flooding could have been this bad in this day in age. Usually they build dams and have other safety precautions to make sure catostraphic flooding like this never occurs. The pictures they are showing look like the area was struck by a tornado or hurricane.

Though I am sure more dams could help (I don't know how popular they would be), flash floods are always more severe in dry areas as there is less soil to soak up the water and less vegetation with deep roots to hold back water. Rainwater can then start to flow very quickly. Though the Texas Hill Country is not a desert per se, it is dry with thin soil.

Then factor in the nature of the Guadalupe "River"....

The idea of a largely freely flowing Guadalupe is historical to Texas, thus probably less support for extensive dams and dikes. In the eastern states the River would be called the Guadalupe "Creek".

Any extensive flood control dams etc. would probably turn the Guadalupe River into the "Guadalupe Semi Drained Culvert" pretty fast. That would not fly in Texas.

 

[PunishThenForgive]

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This is really touching- video of Mystic campers on the way to the reunification center and a view of some of the damage.

Singing is a BIG, beautiful part of summer camp. I still remember the songs we sang while hiking, working on projects, and sitting around the camp fire during Girl Scout camp each summer.

 

[Charlot123]

Unbelievable how the flooding could have been this bad in this day in age. Usually they build dams and have other safety precautions to make sure catostraphic flooding like this never occurs. The pictures they are showing look like the area was struck by a tornado or hurricane.

I read about Guadalupe River. It does have a dam, but downstream from the place where the camps were. By the map, they were not that far from the place where the river formed, from two streams. So the river itself is not that huge, it was the place of the camps and the timing.

Also, limey, stony, non-porous soil is another issue. If you put out a metal or even plastic bathroom out in the garden in a heavy rain, see how rapidly it overfills. Same there. There is no outflow of water.

At least it is my understanding why the flash floods. A lot depends on how much rain comes in, and that’s an interesting question. Some of my acquaintances are atmospheric physics, and they were surprised about the concept of “floods in Texas”. The way I understand, the Gulf is not that far, so the moist and hot air moves inwards, and meets Balcones Escarpment

Texas Primer: The Balcones Escarpment

The blackland prairie of the old South meets the wide-open spaces of the wild West at Texas’ great geologic divide.

www.texasmonthly.com

This structure (basically, a higher-lying tectonic platform) makes the air rise, cool down and release the moisture in the form of rain.

So I assume the climate in the Hill Country might be generally nice, and who minds the rain? - but once in a decade, it becomes a disaster. Just what I have read, the locals know more. I spent a few days in Galveston, and it was awesome, but they, too, have hurricanes or whatnot. There is no place with ideal climate.

 

[Lisa4]

 

[Quill]

That is a fantastic point. The NWS alerts go out through radio, tv, and cell phones (via text message). My phone blows up whenever there’s a tornado or flash flood warning nearby. Those girls and camp counselors were sitting ducks.

Of course, cell phones didn’t save everyone. As you know, sisters Brooke and Blair Harbor texted their parents right before they died and were found 15 miles away with their hands still locked together. It’s tragic.

Sisters Who Died in Texas Floodwaters Were Found with Hands 'Locked Together,' Aunt Says

Yes, and the four students who were at a family vacation cabin were also able to use the phone to get in contact. They were swept away while still on the call. They were trying to get to higher ground.

Father pleads for prayers after deadly flood as search continues for group with ties to Beaumont

"They just got washed away,” Joyce said before the call dropped. Now her father is searching the Texas Hill Country, hoping to find her and her friends alive.

www.12newsnow.com

 

[Arkay]

Texas flooding victims: From young campers to a dad saving his family, what we know about the lives lost

Young campers and a dad saving his family were among the dozens killed in the historic flash floods that tore through central Texas over the holiday weekend.

abcnews.go.com

I’ve been just scanning through this thread because it’s too utterly painful.

My twin and I spent many summers in sleepaway camps up in the Catskill Mountains, although I sent my daughter and eldest granddaughter to day camp, not sleepaway. We all learned to swim by going to camp.

I’m not at all acquainted with the Texas Hill Country, but have learned a lot here and on the news.

This tragedy is unbearable. So many children, so many people dead, so many people missing.

The closest we’ve ever come to this type of flooding was in 2012 when Hurricane (or Superstorm) Sandy devastated NYC. We are not accustomed to that here.

I’m sorry if this article has already been posted, as I haven’t read through the entire thread. This caught my eye because it has a picture of the twin sisters who drowned.

As an identical twin I can attest that the bond between twins is something I cannot truly explicate. These twins appear, at least in this photo, to have different eye colors from each other, so I presume they were fraternal. I’m sure, though, that they did everything together.

All of this is just too shattering.

This father who punched the window and died saving his two infants. Such heartbreak. These children from the camp…speechless.

JMO and experience.

 

[Dotta]

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This is really touching- video of Mystic campers on the way to the reunification center and a view of some of the damage.

"For I was lost
But now I'm found..."

Beautiful and uplifting

 

[Skigh]

Heartbreaking photo shows entire cabin of girls who were washed away

The 13 girls and two counselors were staying in Camp Mystic's Bubble Inn cabin, which, housed the youngest of the girls, aged 8 to 10.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The bodies of 10 of the girls and counselor Chloe Childress, 18, have been found as of Monday morning, while counselor Katherine Ferruzzo and three campers remain missing.

Those confirmed dead from the Bubble Inn cabin are: Janie Hunt, Margaret Bellows, Lila Bonner, Lainey Landry, Sarah Marsh, Linnie McCown, Winne Naylor, Eloise Peck, Renee Smajstrla and Mary Stevens.

The girls from the cabin who are still missing are Molly DeWitt, Ellen Getten and Abby Pohl. The co-owner of the Christian girls camp, Dick Eastland, reportedly died while trying to save the girls in the Twins and Bubble Inn cabins.

His body was found in a black SUV alongside those of three girls he had tried to save, reported The Washington Post.

Camp Mystic confirmed Monday that at least 27 campers and counselors had died in the floods.

 

[pandorasbox]

Hear me out. Rain in Texas is feast or famine. When it rains, it usually floods. These properties on the Guadalupe river are generational, having been there since being settled and ranched, certainly before any flood plain maps.

I know it seems crazy for there to be a kids camp there, but honestly, where else would it be? These are beautiful slices of heaven in an unforgiving landscape. We usually have rain around the 4th of July, and it usually is the last rain for months - the spigot literally shuts off. When it does, temperatures soar to 100F and beyond, the land becomes dry as a bone, it's a hellscape. There is literally nowhere else you'd want to be but by one of the clear, beautiful, cypress lined rivers of the Texas Hill Country. I would send my kid to a camp there in a heartbeat.

I wouldn't send my kids to a camp with cabins in a regulatory floodway knowing this. It's not something I would have thought of before, but I am now. I looked up all the camps in my kids' council on the FEMA site and none of them have cabins even in a Zone A. They have natural water but seemed to have intentionally not built in the flood plain areas. Just the way that the land juts out and is completely surrounded by regulatory floodways, I don't know how it was even legal to build on it, it looks so dangerous. It might be a hundred year old camp, but I doubt the cabins were.

 

[Dotta]

I wouldn't send my kids to a camp with cabins in a regulatory floodway knowing this. It's not something I would have thought of before, but I am now. I looked up all the camps in my kids' council on the FEMA site and none of them have cabins even in a Zone A. They have natural water but seemed to have intentionally not built in the flood plain areas. Just the way that the land juts out and is completely surrounded by regulatory floodways, I don't know how it was even legal to build on it, it looks so dangerous. It might be a hundred year old camp, but I doubt the cabins were.

Flood plains
are for the rivers, not people!

Full stop!

They naturally help to reduce floods.
They play an important role in flood management.
They absorb excess water and reduce flood peaks.

Building on flood plains is very risky!

JMO

 

[missourimom2]

I understand the neatness of compiling the names into one post, but the original posts had the links to MSM sources. In a mass casualty event when names of both the dead and the missing are floating around the media, it's kind of important to keep those sources linked. There's at least one person, for example, who was reported early as amongst the deceased, but it was a misidentification. The original article was changed to reflect that he is still missing, but the ripples out into other msm articles haven't been corrected. I have made sure that person has not been added to the list, and they won't be by me until they are found and correctly identified. If a name ends up listed here without a source, it's going to be very difficult to find where it came from. Some names have been widely reported and repeated, but others have only been mentioned in one article or in a tiny section on a single MSM site's liveblog. Keeping the source matters when things are changing quickly and misinformation can become 'fact' through repetition.

MOO

Sorry. Graphic designer/artist here