Tragedy hit Texas on the Fourth of July, when the Guadalupe River flooded, claiming at least 104 lives as of Tuesday morning. Authorities predict the casualties will continue to climb.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the flood a “once in a generation disaster,” and on Sunday, President Trump signed a major disaster declaration “to ensure that our Brave First Responders immediately have the resources they need.”
First responders reacted quickly to the flooding, rescuing over 850 people. One U.S. Coast Guard, Rescue Swimmer and Petty Officer Scott Ruskin, rescued 165 people himself, causing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to call him an “American hero [whose] selfless courage embodies the spirit and mission of the [U.S. Coast Guard].”
Among the many lives lost were 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, an all-girls’ Christian camp located directly next to the Guadalupe River. The closest cabins, the youngest girls’ cabins, were located just a couple of hundred feet from the river. The co-owner and director of Camp Mystic, Richard “Dick” Eastland, 70, died attempting to rescue the girls from the flood.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) related how faith is sustaining the survivors in the wake of the tragedy.
“[T]hese girls when they were on the bus getting removed from camp mystic, singing worship songs, singing hymns while they were driving out and watching the destruction. These are girls who just lost siblings, lost loved ones, lost friends, singing hymns and keeping the faith as they left the camps. And that’s the real story here,” he remarked during “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Monday.
A video from the Center Bridge in Kerrville, Texas, shows the river rising from zero to 26 feet in around 40 minutes, covering the bridge and obstructing traffic. Towards the end of the video, a full-size house can be seen floating down the river and bumping into the bridge, where it rests.
In a news briefing, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) mentioned how he had only just picked his own daughter up from a camp in the area a week earlier. He called the tragedy that took the lives of the girls at Camp Mystic “a parent’s worst nightmare.” Cruz and other Texas officials called for prayer, volunteers, and donations toward relief efforts.
“Search and rescue is the first stage, but the process of coming together and rebuilding is going to take longer,” Cruz explained.
Many have responded to the tragedy with anger towards the Trump administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), or the National Weather Service. One pediatrician was fired from her job after posting that Trump voters “got what they voted for.” An influencer and former Houston city board appointee received major backlash after she claimed that Camp Mystic was a “Whites-only girls’ Christian camp,” and that Texas residents should think twice before going out to find any of the remaining missing girls.
News outlets and reporters originally blamed DOGE’s federal funding cuts and how they affected the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Weather Service. Cruz responded to these accusations in the Texas news briefing, pointing out that the National Weather Service had three additional employees on staff the night of the flood. They sent out flash flood warnings to Texas residents, but they sent them in the early hours of the day while many were still asleep.
“One of the things that’s predictable is that you see some people engaging in, I think, partisan games, and trying to blame their political opponents for a natural disaster,” Cruz pointed out. “People immediately say, ‘Well, the hurricane is Donald Trump’s fault.’ You know, look, I think most normal Americans know that’s ridiculous, and I think this is not a time for partisan finger pointing and attacks.”
Cruz went on to say that after the search and rescue stage, there would be “a period of retrospection,” where officials would reassess what went wrong and why so many lives were lost and to figure out what could prevent a tragedy of this scale in the future.
House Speaker Michael Johnson (R-La) said on Sunday, “[The flood] touches so many families, and all we know to do at this moment is pray.”
“[T]he prayer has been extraordinary,” Rep. Roy related. “The amount of faith, the amount of support coming in people across the aisle that have been reaching out [is huge]. … We had 1,500 people in line trying to get signed up to be volunteers. We’ve had stuff pouring in from all over the country. There’s going to be benefit concerts coming up here in July and August already getting planned. The people of Texas are going to act fast, and they always do that regardless of who we’re talking about. And we’re deeply appreciative.”
At the time this story was written, 41 people, including 11 girls from Camp Mystic, were still reported missing.
