Texas Flooding Claims More Than 100 Lives, Christian Campers Among The Dozens Missing

At least 104 people, including dozens of children, are dead after devastating flooding in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend as recovery efforts continue. 

Officials said Monday that the death toll could still rise as dozens are still reported missing. Among the dead are 28 children, including around two dozen who were attending Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls near the Guadalupe River in Kerr County.

Authorities reported that 84 of the deaths were in Kerr County, while the other 20 were in Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Tom Green, and Kendall counties. 

“We will remain 100 percent dedicated, searching for every single one of the children who were at Camp Mystic, as well as anybody else, and the entire riverbed to make sure that they’re going to be recovered,” Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday. 

Ten girls from Camp Mystic and a counselor are still missing. The camp’s 74-year-old director, Dick Eastland, was killed in the flooding. 

“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,” George Eastland, the director’s grandson, wrote on Instagram. “That’s the man my grandfather was. A husband, father, grandfather, and mentor to thousands of young women, he no longer walks this earth, but his impact will never leave the lives he touched.”

Another one of the victims was Chloe Childress, an 18-year-old camp counselor. 

“Chloe Childress lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith,” her family said on Monday. “Returning as a counselor 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.”

A pair of 8-year-old twin sisters attending Camp Mystic, Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, were also killed in the flooding. 

“Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others,” their parents said. “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.  Thank you for the love and support.”

Other victims included campers and people who were caught in their vehicles and homes by the sudden flash flooding. Emergency responders successfully rescued around 850 people. According to the Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Scott Ruskin was responsible for saving 165 of them.