Texas, Camp and flood
Digest more
Texas, flash flood and rescue
Digest more
Young campers and a dad saving his family were among the dozens killed in the historic flash floods that tore through central Texas over the holiday weekend.
Eight-year-old girls at sleep-away camp, families crammed into recreational vehicles, local residents traveling to or from work. These are some of the victims.
Renee Smajstrla, a 8-year-old straight-A student from Ingram, Texas, who had played a role in her school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz,” was one of the victims who died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, her family said.
At least 121 people are dead from the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country.Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 96 deaths, including 36 children. President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration for the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground there.
Safety and weather protocols are top of mind for parents and summer camp leaders following a deadly flood that overwhelmed Central Texas.
The Associated Press has assembled an approximate timeline of the 48 hours before, during and after the deadly flash flood, beginning with the activation of the state’s emergency response resources on July 2 — the same day Texas signed off on the camp’s emergency plan for disasters.
President Donald Trump is touring the devastation left by flash flooding in central Texas amid growing questions about how local officials responded to the crisis as well as questions about the federal response -- including the fate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- that he has so far avoided.