Broken trees lie splintered across roads. Waterlogged pickup trucks sit buried in fields of debris. Family photo albums, warped and mud-stained, strewn across lots where homes once stood. All are remnants of lives upended after devastating flash floods swept through Central Texas over the holiday weekend.
At least 104 people are confirmed dead following catastrophic flash flooding that tore through Central Texas, with dozens more still missing. A majority of those who died were along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County. Among the dead are 27 children — many of them campers at Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ summer camp that became ground zero for one of the state’s deadliest natural disasters in years.
Lives lost, stories left behind
The usually tranquil Guadalupe River rose more than 20 feet in a matter of hours early Friday morning, catching hundreds off guard as they slept. Families were jolted awake by pounding rain — or in many cases, the roar of water crashing into their homes.
Among those caught in the deluge was 27-year-old Julian Ryan, who died trying to save his family. As floodwaters surged inside their mobile home in Kerr County, Ryan punched out a window to help his mother, fiancée Christinia Wilson and their children escape, but the shattered glass tore through his arm.
“By six o’clock, my husband was dead,” Wilson told KHOU. “He had lost all of his blood. He looked at me and the kids and my mother-in-law and said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all.’”
Ryan is among at least 84 people who died in Kerr County alone, as of Monday afternoon. Also lost was Dick Eastland, director of Camp Mystic, a century-old riverside retreat hosting more than 700 girls when the floodwaters hit. Eastland had reportedly left his home in the dark to help others escape, but never returned. On Monday, the camp confirmed that 27 campers and counselors died in the flood.
“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” camp officials said. “We are praying for them constantly.”
Among the lost was Eloise Peck, a 10-year-old Camp Mystic camper from Dallas. Peck is one of several North Texas families and girls who’ve died or remain missing. Her mother, Missy Peck, told FOX 4 that Eloise died alongside her best friend and cabinmate, 9-year-old Lila Bonner.
"Eloise was literally friends with everyone. She loved spaghetti but not more than she loved dogs and animals,” Peck said. “Eloise had a family who loved her fiercely for the 8 years she was with us. Especially her Mommy."
Eight-year-old Linnie McCown was also at Camp Mystic on Friday, according to the Austin American-Statesman. A student at Casis Elementary in West Austin, Linnie was remembered during a candlelight vigil held by her school community on Sunday.
“She filled our hearts with so much joy we cannot begin to explain,” Linnie’s father, Michael McCown, wrote on social media. “We are going to miss her so very much but know she's up there shining bright."
‘Their hands were locked together’
Among the many children lost in the flood were Blair and Brooke Harber, 11- and 13-year-old sisters from Dallas who were swept away in the early morning darkness while staying in a cabin with their grandparents.
Their aunt, Jennifer Harber, told the Houston Chronicle the sisters clung to each other as water surged through the cabin. Rescue crews discovered their bodies nearly 12 hours later, 15 miles downstream in Kerrville.
“When they were found, their hands were locked together,” Harber said.
Their grandparents are still missing.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
