On the weekend of July Fourth, a tragedy hit the heart of Texas where random and devastating flooding claimed the lives of over 100 people.
The tranquil vacation in the Hill Country turned out to be a disaster, a tragedy, a riddle with no answer.
At least 104 people, 28 of whom were children, were confirmed dead on Monday night with dozens more missing.
Search-and-rescue teams have been on duty day and night recovering survivors out of rivers, clearing trees that obstruct the way of water, and thoroughly searching through debris-strewn areas where the summer once had brought so much gladness.
One of the worst affected locations was the Camp Mystic, a century old all girls Christian camp in the Guadalupe River where 27 campers and counselors died. Authorities reported that 10 campers and one counselor are still missing.
This is one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory, said Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice. Families are washed out.”
A River Gone Deadly
The floods came in the pre-dawn hours on Friday after an extraordinary downpour that was described by some as a wall of water. The Guadalupe River overcame its banks and early in the day most people were still asleep when cabins, homes, and tents were flooded.
Tent campers were pulled out of their beds. There went cars, tree trunks, and bits of furniture, as the current increased.
Survivors reported that they were experiencing a nightmare.
Elizabeth Lester, a mother whose two children were at summer camps in the area, said: My son was forced to swim out of his cabin window in order to survive. She is a daughter who has ran uphill with the waters trailing on her heels. It was as though the river had talked, she said.”
The banks of the river are now littered with twisted metal, canoes, mattresses and even family portraits all as a reminder of what was lost and the happy memories that once permeated the camps.
Overall, there were 19 deaths across adjoining counties, which include Travis, Kendall, Burnet, Williamson, and Tom Green.
Why No Warning was Taken?
Whereas the National Weather Service started issuing flood warnings on Thursday night and flash flood emergencies early Friday, the questions have arisen, Why did not some camps evacuate? Were the warnings late to read or just not heard?
Cellphone reception in some areas of the Hill Country was so poor that it is possible it did not help in the distribution of emergency alerts. Other camps were said to receive no flooding warnings.
We do want to jump in and take a look at all of that stuff, Rice said. However; before we can do anything we have to concentrate on completing the search and rescue.
Not all camps were slow. One of them moved hundreds of campers to an elevated location a few hours before the water struck. But Camp Mystic was not one of them.
A Grieving and Acting Community
Texas emergency crews were joined in a rare cross-border collaboration by firefighters in Ciudad Acuuna, Mexico, who helped in the grueling rescue effort.
More than 1,000 volunteers have been sent in the areas of the disaster. Texas Governor Greg Abbott acknowledged that dozens remain unaccounted and others might be missing as evaluations are done.
President Trump is also scheduled to visit the flood zone on Friday after signing a major disaster declaration in Kerr County. He emphasized that, no one could predict that this was coming, despite the earlier weather predictions.
In the meantime, Senator Ted Cruz urged people to unite: There is a time of politics, and there is a time of compassion. At the moment, we should concentrate on saving lives.”
The Courage and Survival Stories
With all the devastation, tales of remarkable valor have been heard.
Reagan Brown told that his older parents had to leave the flooded house in Hunt but turned around and rescued their 92-year-old neighbor, who was stuck on the attic. They and others took refuge in a tool shed on an elevation, and there withstood the flood.
It is every day heroes who said Brown. They were not too cautious. they simply did it.”
More Rain is Coming.
The central Texas environment is already saturated, and as more rain is expected, it is in danger. Warnings of more flooding have been made and the residents were advised not to go near riverbanks, bridges and low lying places.
The Kerrville city officials have also begged residents to stay off flying drones in search areas because one had crashed against a rescue helicopter which had to make an emergency landing.
What’s Next?
Texas will embark on a painful recovery process as water gradually recedes. Investigations will be initiated, questions will be asked, and changes will be made but at this moment, the priority is to find the missing and assist the families of the lost people.
One local firefighter said, there are no words to describe what we have seen. We simply continue, one by one.
