The death toll from this weekend’s flooding in Texas has risen to more than 80, including 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic.
CNN reporter Pamela Brown was live on the scene along the Guadalupe River on Sunday, where she recalled her time as a camper at the Christian girls’ camp three decades earlier.
“I was about to do a live shot and law enforcement came up and said we had to evacuate because a water wall is coming. So our crew is packing up and, quickly, I just wanted to show you where I am. I mean, these are the cabins where the little girls were sleeping during the flash flooding over Fourth of July,” she shared. “And I can’t stop thinking about the fact I was a little camper in one of those cabins 30 years ago.”
“This river, right here, the Guadalupe River, was a source of so much joy and fun. We would use the blob, where someone would jump on it and then the person at the end would fly into the water. We would go looking for dinosaur fossils,” Brown continued. “We loved it here, and to think that this same river was the source of so much heartache and terror and devastation, I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
“I can’t stop thinking about those little girls who were in their decorated bunk beds, in their trunks, waking up to horror, the family members coming out here to look for their loved ones,” she concluded. “It’s just too much to bear.”
The death toll from the Fourth of July natural disaster is also expected to climb as officials continue to search for survivors amongst the devastation.
“We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls,” Camp Mystic shared in a Monday statement. “We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders and officials at every level.”
