Camp Mystic Counselors Wrote Names of the Girls They Were Comforting On Their Arms While Waiting for Help: 'I Had to Stay Strong'
In the early morning hours of July 4, flash floods overwhelmed the Camp Mystic grounds near the Guadalupe River during a severe thunderstorm. Silvana Garza Valdez and Maria Paula Zárate, both 19, protected dozens of girls attending the Christian summer camp. Channel2 Now reported.
The teenage Mexican counselors moved the girls to the highest cabin area, wrote their names on their arms and comforted them through the night, distracting them until other counselors arrived with more campers and food in the morning.
"We went to sleep, and around midnight, it started to rain like nothing I'd ever experienced," Garza told Channel2 Now. "The thunder rattled the windows, and lightning lit up the cabins."
"No one could sleep. The little girls were crying, saying, 'We're going to die,'" Garza continued. "I had to stay strong, even though I was scared, too," she added.
The young woman said she and others were devastated to see the storm's tragic aftermath, which included mattresses in the trees and children's clothing hanging in the branches after the storm passed.
"It's something I wouldn't wish on anyone," Garza tearfully told the outlet. "Two days before the flood, we were scheduled to be in one of the cabins that was washed away."
As a result of their efforts, the camp counselors have been praised online as "guardian angels."
At least 82 people, including 28 children, died in flash flooding along the Guadalupe River outside San Antonio over the weekend. As of Sunday morning, at least 41 people remain missing, including 10 campers and a Camp Mystic counselor, according to the Associated Press. The death toll is expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.
Originally published on Latin Times
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