This article was originally published by The Epoch Times: What We Know About Victims of Texas Floods
The death toll from a series of devastating Texas floods over the July 4 weekend has risen to more than 100 people, many of whom are children.
“Everyone here at the White House, including the President of the United States, is praying for the victims’ families and friends during this unimaginable time,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday, adding that President Donald Trump had signed a disaster declaration for the area.
Many of these deaths—caused by the overflow of the Guadalupe and Llano Rivers after 12 inches of rainfall doused the dry, flooding-prone region—came from Camp Mystic, a summer camp for girls, and the area of Kerrville, Texas.
Camp Mystic
Of the currently known deaths, nearly one in four have come from Camp Mystic, which had many cabins sitting close to the Guadalupe River.
On Monday, the Christian girls’ camp announced that 27 of its campers and counselors had died in the flood.
“Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River,” Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas, said in a statement posted on its website. “Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly.”
Others remain unaccounted for. On Sunday, officials reported there were 10 people missing who had been at the camp.
In the statement, Camp Mystic said they had been in communication with local and state authorities “who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.”
Richard ‘Dick’ Eastland
One of the casualties at Camp Mystic was Dick Eastland, the camp’s director.
Paige Sumner, a former camper, wrote in a local newspaper column that Eastland was “the father figure to all of us while we were away from home.”
Her attitude was common among other campers, Sumner wrote, saying that Eastland “put campers first.”
Eastland and his wife had owned the camp since 1974, Texas Public Radio reported.
His wife, Tweety, who was away from the camp at the time, was found safe in their home afterward.
Chloe Childress
Another casualty from Camp Mystic was 19-year-old counselor Chloe Childress.
In a statement, her family wrote that the recent high school graduate “lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith.”
A former camper herself, “Chloe was looking forward to dedicating her summer days to loving and mentoring young girls at Camp Mystic,” the statement said.
Jonathan Eads, the head of the Kinkaid School in Houston from which Childress had recently graduated, wrote that Childress “was wise beyond her years, with a steady compassion that settled a room.”
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence
Two of the girls who died in the flood were Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, 8-year-old twin sisters.
“Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others,” John and Lacy Lawrence, the girls’ parents, said in a statement.
“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.”
Zunker Family
Reece and Paula Zunker, two educators from the area, were confirmed to have died in the flood.
Their two children, Lyle and Holland, are still missing.
Reece Zunker was described by Tivy High School in Kerrville, where he taught, as “a passionate educator and a beloved soccer coach.”
Jane Ragsdale
Jane Ragsdale, 68, directed The Heart O’ the Hills, another summer camp for girls in the area.
No girls were present at the camp, which was in between sessions when the floods hit.
However, Ragsdale was in the camp’s facilities, which were in the path of the flood.
“She was the heart of The Heart,” the camp said in a statement mourning her passing. “She was our guiding light, our example, and our safe place. She had the rare gift of making every person feel seen, loved, and important.”
Tanya Burwick
Tanya Burwick’s last communication to her family came in the form of a frantic phone call warning of the floodwaters as the 62-year-old headed to work at Walmart.
When the small-town grandmother didn’t show up for work, a missing persons report was filed.
Her SUV, unoccupied and fully submerged, was discovered before Burwick’s remains, several blocks away, were recovered.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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