Floods turned beloved Texas camp into a nightmare. At least 27 girls remain missing

KERRVILLE Texas AP Texas parents frantically posted photos of their young daughters on social media with pleas for information as at least campers from an all-girls summer camp were unaccounted for Saturday after fatal flash floods tore through central Texas just before dawn Friday At least people including children died in Kerr County after a storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain and sent floodwaters gushing out of the Guadalupe River through the hilly region known for its century-old summer camps Another six people died in nearby counties State officers declared girls from Camp Mystic a riverside Christian camp in Hunt Texas still were unaccounted for about hours after the flood An -year-old girl from Mountain Brook Alabama who was at Camp Mystic and the director of another camp just up the road were among those validated dead Saturday Gov Greg Abbott who toured the camp Saturday with rescue crews vowed that agents will work around the clock to find the missing girls and others swept away in the storm that caught multiple residents campers and agents by surprise Plenty of more are still missing and executives reported about people had been rescued so far Flood turns storied Camp Mystic into a nightmare The camp was established in It grew so popular over the following decades that families are now encouraged to put prospective campers on the waitlist years in advance Photos and videos taken before the flood are idyllic showing large cabins with green-shingled roofs and names like Wiggle Inn tucked among sturdy oak and cypress trees that grow on the banks of the Guadalupe River In particular social media posts girls are fishing riding horses playing kickball or performing choreographed dance routines in matching T-shirts Girls ranging in age from to years old pose for the camera with big smiles arms draped across the shoulders of their fellow campers But the floodwaters left behind a starkly different landscape A pickup truck is balanced precariously on two wheels its side lodged halfway up a tree A wall is torn entirely off one building the interior empty except for a Texas flag and paintings hung high along one side A twisted bit of metal perhaps a bedframe is stacked next to colorful steamer trunks and broken tree limbs First responders are scouring the riverbanks in hopes of finding survivors Social media posts are now focused on the faces of the missing Camps emergency plans unclear State and county representatives defended their actions Saturday amid scrutiny over whether the camps and residents in towns long vulnerable to flooding received proper alerts The National Weather Utility issued a flood warning for the region on Thursday and it sent out a series of flash-flood warnings in the early hours Friday The federal agency had predicted to inches to centimeters of rain in the region northwest of San Antonio but inches cm fell The Guadalupe River rose to feet meters within about minutes in the early morning hours submerging its flood gauge It was not right now clear what kind of evacuation plans Camp Mystic might have had The county itself does not have a warning system Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly reported He maintained that no one knew a flood of this magnitude was coming Rescuers evacuate certain campers by helicopter By Friday afternoon Texas Battle Wardens had arrived at Camp Mystic and were evacuating campers A rope was tied so girls could hang on as they walked across a bridge the floodwaters rushing around their knees Elinor Lester commented she was evacuated with her cabinmates by helicopter after wading through floodwaters She recalled startling awake around a m as thunder crackled and water pelted the cabin windows Lester was among the older girls housed on elevated ground known as Senior Hill Cabins housing the younger campers who can start attending at age are situated along the riverbanks and were the first to flood she stated The camp was perfectly destroyed she stated It was really scary Her mother Elizabeth Lester mentioned her son was nearby at Camp La Junta and also escaped A counselor there woke up to find water rising in the cabin opened a window and helped the boys swim out Camp La Junta and nearby Camp Waldemar announced in Instagram posts that all campers and staff were safe Elizabeth Lester sobbed when she saw her daughter who was clutching a small teddy bear and a book My kids are safe but knowing others are still missing is just eating me alive she stated Families of missing campers worry Dozens of families shared in local Facebook groups that they received devastating phone calls from safety authorities informing them that their daughters had not yet been located among the washed-away camp cabins and downed trees Camp Mystic mentioned in an email to parents of the roughly campers that if they have not been contacted directly their child is accounted for On Friday afternoon more than a hundred people gathered at an Ingram elementary school that was being used as a reunification center watching for the faces of loved ones as buses full of evacuees arrived One young girl wearing a Camp Mystic T-shirt stood in a puddle in her white socks sobbing in her mother s arms Camp Mystic sits on a strip known to locals as flash flood alley When it rains water doesn t soak into the soil mentioned Austin Dickson CEO of the Society Foundation of the Texas Hill Country which was collecting donations It rushes down the hill Decades prior floodwaters engulfed a bus of teenage campers from another Christian camp along the Guadalupe River during devastating summer storms in A total of campers from Pot O Gold Christian camp drowned after their bus was unable to evacuate in time from a site near Comfort miles kilometers east of Hunt Happy camp memories are now tinged with grief Chloe Crane a mentor and former Camp Mystic counselor announced her heart broke when a fellow mentor shared an email from the camp about the missing girls To be quite honest I cried because Mystic is such a special place and I just couldn t imagine the terror that I would feel as a counselor to experience that for myself and for little girls that I m taking care of she stated And it s also just sadness like the camp has been there forever and cabins literally got washed away Crane disclosed the camp is a haven for young girls looking to gain confidence and independence She recalled happy memories teaching her campers about journalism making crafts and competing in a camp-wide canoe race at the end of each summer Now for plenty of campers and counselors their happy place has turned into a horror story she disclosed Schoenbaum broadcasted from Salt Lake City Associated Press writer Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise Idaho Source