Two Camp Mystic counselors from Mexico describe managing campers through the Texas floods
Silvana Garza Valdez and María Paula Zárate, 19-year-old camp counselors from Mexico, recalled the events during the deadly disaster that killed more than 100 people, including 27 campers and counselors, in an interview with NMás Saturday.
In the very early morning hours of July 4, Zárate first heard the torrential downpour that prevented her from sleeping and at 3 a.m. the electricity went out throughout the Hunt, Texas, camp. At midday, the counselors were informed that girls from another section of the camp had been caught in the flooding and that the surviving girls were safely relocated in a camp dining hall.
Realizing the severity of the situation and seeing that the survivors from the other part of the camp were evacuated via helicopter, Zárate and Garza Valdez began preparing the campers under their supervision.
'We began writing the girls' names on their skin, wherever it could be visible,' Zárate said. 'We told them to make a bag with all their things, whatever was most necessary ... to get ready to evacuate. But we didn't know if they were going to evacuate us or not and so we waited.'
It wasn't until the water spilled out of its banks and furniture from the campgrounds rushed by that the younger campers began to really understand what was happening. That's when questions were slung at Zárate and Garza Valdez, who reassured their troop that they'd be OK. The campers were quelled with games and songs until they were informed that they too would be evacuated.
'All the girls lost their cool, they all began crying because they didn't want to leave campgrounds, because they wanted to be with their parents. It was a terrible situation,' Garza Valdez said. 'It was never reported to us that anyone died because no one was really sure in the moment. What they told us at the time was that 25 girls were missing and that two were [safely] found at a nearby campground.'
Reflecting on having survived the flooding, Garza Valdez said the entire incident was surreal.
'I felt like I was in a dream. I didn't think it was real,' she said. 'I don't think I understood the gravity of the situation until we left on the Army trucks. It was terrible. A week before, we were sleeping in the affected cabins and so it was incredible to learn that they had moved us and that we are alive.'
As of Monday morning, 10 campers and one counselor were still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, according to the Associated Press.
Camp Mystic released a statement regarding the deadly flooding on its website Sunday.
'Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe river. Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,' the statement reads. 'We are praying for them constantly. We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.'
A complete estimate for all the unaccounted for people has not yet been released.
'It was a storm from like a horror movie. The thunder was incredibly strong and you felt like the lightning was striking right by your side because it lit up all the cabins,' Garza Valdez said. 'It was a storm that of which I've never seen before in my life. It never stopped raining.'
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