Emotional CNN correspondent reveals her very personal connection to Camp Mystic as she reports from flood chaos

Daily Mail​

a day ago

CNN 's Pamela Brown delivered an emotional report from Texas' flood-ravaged Camp Mystic, revealing that she attended the camp as a young girl.
The camp in Kerr County was swallowed by floodwaters from the Guadalupe River Friday after flash-flooding the day before.
Twenty-seven people from the camp were killed in the raging waters, while a counselor and 10 girls remain missing.
At least 82 people have been confirmed dead.
Brown, CNN's chief investigative correspondent, revealed her connection to the camp on Sunday while lamenting how 'so much innocence has now been lost.'
'It's surreal coming back here 30 years later,' she said. 'I was a 10-year-old little camper here filled with so much hope and joy.'
Visibly troubled, Brown, 41, called the camp 'a magical place'.
'I'm overwhelmed with emotion, and I'm overwhelmed with memories,' she said.
'And I can't get over looking at those cabins right next to the Guadalupe River.'
The veteran reporter said she found it hard to accept that a river that provided so much joy to her as a youngster has caused so much pain.
'It's just hard to wrap my head around,' she said. 'I can't stop thinking about those little girls who were in their decorated bunk beds and their trunks, waking up to horror.
'Now, all these girls, these sweet young campers, who had to evacuate and their families.
'And I just can't help but think about them and pray for them, and just hope that more are found alive.'
Brown, 41, revealed even more on her Instagram account, posting memories and keepsakes from her time at Camp Mystic.
The co-host of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer showed a series of letters she penned as a camper.
She also published a video of a 'charm bracelet' she made and wore.
'I remember vividly being so excited about my tribe & picking out these charms with my mom to reflect what was important to me as a 10-year-old camper,' she wrote.
During her coverage, Brown pointed out the 'cabins where the little girls were sleeping' when the flooding began.
'I can't stop thinking about the fact that I was a little camper in one of those cabins 30 years ago,' she said.
As family members of missing campers were seen sifting through the rubble, Brown added: 'It's just too much to bear.'
Shortly after, she and other reporters were evacuated from the campground to another site just up the road.
The search for the 10 missing campers and counselor, meanwhile, continued into Monday morning.
At least five girls from the camp have already been confirmed dead.