Congressman August Pfluger Shares Firsthand Experience During Texas Floods

WASHINGTON—Congressman August Pfluger recalled the devastation that swept through his hometown during the July 4th floods in a candid interview with The Daily Wire on Tuesday.

The Texas Republican spoke with Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan during the “new media row” event sponsored by the Republican Study Committee, which he chairs. Pfluger represents Texas’s 11th district, which includes many of the communities stricken by the floods.

He said two of his daughters were at Camp Mystic when the floods hit.

“It’s a horrible feeling as a parent to know that you’re not sure whether your children are okay,” Pfluger said. “And in this case of my two daughters that were there and had been going to this camp for a long time, it was a very scary moment.”

“We’re lucky my daughters, who were at the camp, are safe,” Pfluger said. “You know, it was very, very stressful and hard to go through that, but Texans are strong … We need a lot of prayers from around the country right now.”

Twenty-seven Camp Mystic campers, many around eight years old, and several camp counselors, died in the floods.

“It’s truly tragic,” Pfluger said. “So many families are grieving right now. … It’s hard to even describe what happened. I mean, just something on a scale and magnitude that we’ve never seen. And our prayers were with a lot of families.”

Pfluger expressed his gratitude to the quick actions of Texas Governor Abbot and the Trump administration for declaring disasters in the state.

When some commentators began to inject politics into the bleak situation, Pfluger noted that this travesty was an opportunity for those who sit in different political camps to come together.

“I’ve had many Democrats who have reached out to me in this period,” Pfluger said. “I’ve learned a lot about those people, and they didn’t say one thing about any of the politicization, but there are those who have chosen to do that.”

“There’s no place for [politicization]. … I think the rest of us — the rest of society — just want to know how can we help. That’s the first question that most people ask. That’s the part of society that I want to be with. Those are the people that I think are going to help all of us rise up and be strong, whose voices are louder right now.”

While the final toll of the devastation will not be fully known until the affected communities recover, there are still countless searches ongoing. Those in central Texas not searching for a loved one have begun attempting to return their communities to normalcy.

“If you know somebody and most people have a connection in Texas, especially to somebody who was affected by this, reach out to them, ask him how they’re doing,” Pfluger urged Americans.

“It’s okay if you asked them before. Ask them again.”