A flash flood hit Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas, on July 4, killing at least five young girls and leaving 11 children missing. Officials call it *“one of the worst natural disasters the area has seen in decades.”* The Guadalupe River rose over 26 feet in just 45 minutes, flooding the campground without warning. The youngest campers were in low-lying cabins only 225 feet from the river and were struck first
Among the victims were eight-year-olds Renee Smajstrla, Sarah Marsh,
and Eloise Peck, and nine-year-olds
Janie Hunt and Lila Bonner. The camp’s
longtime director,
70-year-old Richard “Dick” Eastland,
died trying to save the children.
Rescue operations are ongoing as crews
search for the missing in dangerous conditions.
