Latest news with #AugustPfluger
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
San Angelo residents now able to apply for FEMA assistance after Texas flooding
President Trump has officially added Tom Green County to the Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance Support from FEMA, according to a release from U.S. Rep. August Pfluger's office. On Friday, Pfluger, R-San Angelo, announced that Tom Green and San Saba counties have been added to the list that now includes Burnet, San Saba, Tom Green, Travis, and Williamson Counties for Individual Assistance. Kendall, Kimble, Menard, and San Saba Counties were also added for Public Assistance, including direct Federal assistance. If you have been impacted by the floods, visit the FEMA website to request support at San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson said the efforts of the citizens submitting flood survey's over the past six days have paid off. "Residents of San Angelo may now be eligible to apply for individual assistance through FEMA," Thompson said. "This IA declaration will also potentially open up additional federal recovery funding programs for our citizens and businesses. "On behalf of the City, I want to sincerely thank every person who completed a disaster assessment and every volunteer who stepped up to help. This is a great step forward towards the road of recovery for our community. We will continue to share recovery program information updates as they become available. To every citizen of San Angelo—you should be proud of what you've accomplished." Tom Green County Judge Lane Carter said the efforts in formulating the data needed from the citizens are finally coming to fruition. "We owe a huge thanks to Congressman August Pfluger and his office for assisting with this and moving the ball down the field," Carter said. "We owe a tremendous amount of thanks to the volunteers who assisted our citizens in this effort. The recovery efforts are one step at a time, but at this rate, we will overcome." In a special meeting held by the city council on Thursday afternoon, Shane Kelton Executive Director of Public Work with the city said there were 1,520 iSTAT Damage Surveys were submitted. He said 705 homes had minor damage, 463 with major damage and 58 homes were considered a total loss. More: Police, City of San Angelo issue order of restricted areas due to flooding More: San Angelo pets in need after historic flood This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Tom Green County residents can now apply for FEMA flood assistance
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressman reunited with daughters after Camp Mystic flooding
U.S. Rep. August Pfluger's two daughters, who attended Camp Mystic, have been reunited with the family, according to his July 5 Facebook post. Camp Mystic, a popular all-girls camp near Kerrville has been the center of national attention after historic rainfall saw the Guadalupe River, where the camp is located, surge 26 feet in under an hour. Pfluger of the 11th Congressional District posted that his two daughters, Caroline and Juliana, were evacuated from the camp and returned to him, his wife Camille and their other daughter, Vivian. 'The last day has brought unimaginable grief to many families, and we mourn with them as well as holding out hope for survivors,' the Republican from San Angelo said. Pfluger later posted about Camp Mystic's director, Richard "Dick" Eastland, who lost his life saving campers from the surging flood. 'Camp Mystic's Dick Eastland no doubt gave his life attempting to save his campers," Pfluger wrote. "For decades he and his wife Tweety poured his life into loving and developing girls and women of character. Thank you Mr. Eastland. We love you and miss you.' Pfluger thanked first responders who traveled to help in the flood aftermath, naming the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the White House, Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Texas Department of Public Safety and local officials who 'have all been responsive and helpful.' On Sunday, Pfluger posted on Facebook that he 'toured the hard-hit part of the San Angelo community' with Tom Green County Judge Lane Carter and San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson. 'The impact of the flood is devastating — thousands have been affected. We're here to support our neighbors and are actively advocating for critical resources,' Pfluger said. More: Waking up to disaster: How San Angelo is weathering a flood. What happened and what now? More: Another calamity: The closest forerunner in San Angelo's history of floods was decades ago Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@ Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @Paul_Witwer. This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Rep. August Pfluger reunited with daughters after Camp Mystic flooding
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Top Trump ally is reunited with his two young daughters after harrowing rescue from horrific Texas floods
Texas Congressman August Pfluger and his wife were two of the parents who anxiously awaited news of the whereabouts of their children as deadly floods struck the Texas Hill Country this past weekend. The floods took 95 lives as of Monday, including dozens of girls at summer camp. Rep. Pfluger's two young daughters were among those in attendance who were rescued. 'Camille, Vivian and I are now reunited with Caroline and Juliana who were evacuated from Camp Mystic. The last day has brought unimaginable grief to many families and we mourn with them as well as holding out hope for survivors,' Rep. Pfluger wrote in a weekend post, in which he thanked the 'incredible work' of the federal response. 'Please join us today as we pray for miracles.' Pfluger's post was met with will wishes from a slew of his congressional colleagues. Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna wrote 'Glad they are okay. So heartbreaking what happened.' Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks responded that she was 'praying for [Pfluger's] family and everyone in Kerr County.' Rep. August on X Rep. August Pfluger speaks remotely as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on The Biden Administration's Priorities for U.S. Foreign Policy on Capitol Hill on March 10, 2021 in Washington, DC But others closer to the calamity on the ground had harsher assessments of what transpired and began pointing fingers. In a Monday interview with Fox News, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said that 'something went wrong' when Camp Mystic staff weren't warned of rising floodwaters on the Guadalupe River. 'The fact that you have girls asleep in their cabins when the flood waters are rising — something went wrong there. We've got to fix that and have a better system of warning to get kids out of harm's way,' Cruz told Fox. Cruz was seen vacationing in Athens, Greece, over the weekend when news of the flooding first broke. Crosses hang from a wall with flood marks, following flooding on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Mystic, Hunt, Texas, U.S. July 7, 2025 Aerial view of the wreckage left in the wake of the flooding in Kerr County, Texas, on Sunday, July 6, 2025. USCG MH-65 helicopters have conducted multiple flights to the flooded area, rescuing 15 campers from Camp Mystic in Hunt and aiding in the evacuation of 230 people People sift through children's belongings at Camp Mystic on July 07, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused severe flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas, leaving more than 90 people reported dead, including children attending the camp A search and rescue team looks for people along the Guadalupe River near a damaged building at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, on July 7, 2025, following severe flash flooding that occurred during the July 4 holiday weekend He was spotted touring the Parthenon on Saturday evening - a full 24 hours after floodwaters had swept through Camp Mystic and camp-goers started being reported missing. Photos of the vacationing senator and his wife Heidi were first published by the Daily Beast. 'A bull*** piece published by a bull*** rag outlet with no credibility, and with no regard for the tragedy in Texas,' Cruz's spokeswoman Macarena Martinez wrote on X, sharing the Daily Beast's story about Cruz. 'The senator is on the ground in Texas and arrived as fast as humanly possible,' Martinez added in her reply. After learning of the tragedy striking his home state and making his way back to America, Cruz participated in a briefing with other Texas officials Monday. It is unclear when Cruz arrived back in Texas after departing Greece. After this weekend's deadly floods, some Democrats quickly blamed President Donald Trump for crippling a critical agency tasked with alerting Americans to impending natural disasters because of his recent government slashing efforts. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for a federal investigation into the National Weather Service's (NWS) response. Critics have pointed to proposed budget reductions and early retirement buyouts at the NWS, but even some critics of the president role in the disaster have said the cuts did not play a pivotal role in this disaster. The disaster was primarily driven by extreme weather conditions and the risks posed in one of the worst flooding regions in the country. While emergency warnings were issued, the speed and scale of the flooding was overwhelming. Democrat Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro noted during an appearance on CNN Sunday that he was unsure if NWS employees taking the buyout had a direct impact on the flood preparation and response. "No, I can't say that conclusively,' Rep. Castro first responded when asked by anchor Dana Bash if local NWS personnel taking buyouts from the Trump administration played a role in the devastation of the floods in Texas. However, then Castro added that he didn't 'think it's helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies.'
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressman reunited with daughters after Camp Mystic flooding
U.S. Rep. August Pfluger's two daughters, who attended Camp Mystic, have been reunited with the family, according to his July 5 Facebook post. Camp Mystic, a popular all-girls camp near Kerrville has been the center of national attention after historic rainfall saw the Guadalupe River, where the camp is located, surge 26 feet in under an hour. Pfluger of the 11th Congressional District posted that his two daughters, Caroline and Juliana, were evacuated from the camp and returned to him, his wife Camille and their other daughter, Vivian. 'The last day has brought unimaginable grief to many families, and we mourn with them as well as holding out hope for survivors,' the Republican from San Angelo said. Pfluger later posted about Camp Mystic's director, Richard "Dick" Eastland, who lost his life saving campers from the surging flood. 'Camp Mystic's Dick Eastland no doubt gave his life attempting to save his campers," Pfluger wrote. "For decades he and his wife Tweety poured his life into loving and developing girls and women of character. Thank you Mr. Eastland. We love you and miss you.' Pfluger thanked first responders who traveled to help in the flood aftermath, naming the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the White House, Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Texas Department of Public Safety and local officials who 'have all been responsive and helpful.' On Sunday, Pfluger posted on Facebook that he 'toured the hard-hit part of the San Angelo community' with Tom Green County Judge Lane Carter and San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson. 'The impact of the flood is devastating — thousands have been affected. We're here to support our neighbors and are actively advocating for critical resources,' Pfluger said. More: Waking up to disaster: How San Angelo is weathering a flood. What happened and what now? More: Another calamity: The closest forerunner in San Angelo's history of floods was decades ago Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@ Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @Paul_Witwer. This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Rep. August Pfluger reunited with daughters after Camp Mystic flooding
CNN
07-07-2025
- Climate
- CNN
‘Oh my god, we're floating': Survivors describe their terrifying escape from the catastrophic Texas flooding
Storms HurricanesFacebookTweetLink Follow They clung to trees. They crawled out of windows and floated on mattresses. And they survived to tell the harrowing story of the catastrophic flooding that struck central Texas over the weekend and killed dozens, devastating a community built around camping and nature. Survivors of the disaster have begun to share their experiences, helping piece together the story of how the horror unfolded. It began last Thursday. That night, the holiday weekend ahead of them, some 750 girls were bunking at Camp Mystic, an almost century-old all-girls summer camp along the banks of Texas' Guadalupe River. Among them were Janie Hunt, a 'brave and sweet' 9-year-old, and 8-year-old Renee Smajstrla, along with Sarah Marsh, Lila Bonner and the daughters of Texas Rep. August Pfluger. Young campers also were at nearby Camp La Junta, including 14-year-old Wyndham Etheridge; 9-year-old Braeden Davis and his 7-year-old brother Brock; and brothers Piers and Ruffin Boyett. Another girls camp nearby, Heart O' the Hills in Hunt, Texas, run by beloved director Jane Ragsdale, was in between sessions – no campers were on site. The 18 or so youth summer camps along the Guadalupe River have long been 'the lifeblood of this community' and 'everybody's bread and butter,' area resident Jerry Adams told CNN. The area's river valleys also thrive on nature lovers who frequent its campgrounds, RV parks, and Airbnbs – including one Ricky Gonzalez and his friends rented for the July Fourth weekend. But areas around the Guadalupe River have also long been prone to flash flooding, owing to the rugged terrain and the river's non-absorbent limestone bed. The river basin is 'one of the three most dangerous regions' in the country for flash flooding, according to a 2021 document from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In 1987, nearly a foot of rain fell just west of Hunt, Texas, between July 16 and 17, triggering a 'flood wave' downstream that killed 10 teenagers and injured 33 people, according to the National Weather Service. The wave also moved through Ingram, Kerrville and Comfort, Texas. Still, there is no comprehensive flood warning system in Kerr County, even as this region recently faced the worst drought in the country. The climate crisis is anticipated to worsen natural disasters, including extreme rain. By overnight Thursday into Friday, an entire summer's worth of rain had begun to fall. The Guadalupe River, which runs from Kerr County to the San Antonio Bay, rose 26 feet – from about 3 feet to nearly 30 feet – from 9 a.m. CT to 9:45 a.m. CT Friday near Comfort, Texas. More than 50,000 people were threatened with catastrophic flooding. Authorities issued a series of advisories and started to go door to door as others undertook their own escape plans. In Kerrville, a law enforcement official knocked on Rita Olsen's door around 6 a.m. Friday to let her know she must evacuate. 'The river is already up here,' the officer said. 'There are people screaming in the river. We're evacuating everybody.' The home of Maria and Felipe Tapia, who live some 300 feet from the Guadalupe River, overflowed within 10 minutes. They were forced to swim out to get to safety. Once out of the home, the couple tried opening their truck's door – but it was stuck. They decided to seek shelter on higher ground with a neighbor. 'We got out right on time,' Felipe told CNN. 'I felt like I was swimming under a river.' 'We had to drive over live power lines to get out of here because the only other way we could go was underwater,' Candice Taylor told CNN affiliate KENS. Zerick Baldwin, thankful for having canceled post-fishing camping plans along the Guadalupe River, marveled at the flooding's intensity and speed. 'If I would've slept in my truck or something, I would have been gone…The waters came so quickly. If I had stayed, I wouldn't have even known what hit,' Baldwin told KENS. At the HTR TX Hill Country Campground and RV park, Melissa and Rob Kamin may have been trying to leave early Friday, their daughter Lorel Carr told CNN. 'My papa (Melissa's dad) mentioned that they might have tried to evacuate before the storm hit,' Carr said. Allison Edwards said her dad, Steve Edwards, was also seen at the campsite around that time, as a flash flood emergency warning was issued in Kerr County. A woman camping with her family was swept away by the floodwaters. At Camp La Junta, torrential rains and catastrophic flooding soon swept through. Ruffin Boyett, who was with his brother, was the first one awake in his cabin around 4 a.m. Friday. 'I couldn't sleep because of the lightning,' Ruffin told CNN affiliate KSAT. 'People were screaming that there was a flood,' his brother, Piers Boyett, said. 'There was a lot of water.' Another camper woke up their counselor, which in turn, woke up the rest of the cabin's campers. Braeden Davis says he also heard screaming at around 4 a.m. from the campers at another cabin that had flooded. Wyndham Etheridge noticed 'more and more' water flowing into the camp. People from other parts started coming 'to seek refuge' at his cabin. 'We didn't really know what was going on around us because it was dark. We couldn't see past the trees,' he told CNN. 'All we really knew is that we needed to move stuff in order for it not to get wet.' Wyndham and his fellow campers 'couldn't really go anywhere because around us there were streams, really strong streams converging, and we didn't want to get swept away because of all the runoff from the mountain,' he said. Prev Next Robert Brake called his father at 4:44 a.m., urging him to evacuate from the Kerr County home where his parents had been staying. 'Dad, you got to get out of there,' Brake told him. Less than 10 minutes later, Brake's brother went to check on the home – located in an RV park – only to find that all the homes in the area had vanished in the flooding. Ella Cahill was at a Kerrville vacation home with friends Reese Manchaca, Joyce Badon and Aidan Heartfield. Cahill's sister, Mackenzie Cahill-Hodulik, said Heartfield's father got a phone call around 5 a.m. 'As they were on the phone, Aidan passed it to Joyce, saying that he needed to help Ella and Reese,' Cahill-Hodulik said. 'Joyce confirmed that all three have been swept away. Shortly after, the phone went dead.' Ricky Gonzalez woke up to a friend's dog pawing at the door. When he and his friends looked outside, they saw one of their cars already being swept away by floodwaters. Water quickly rose to the second level of the group's Airbnb. The group – some of whom could not swim – realized they would have to act fast. 'The water was almost 30 feet deep. I can't swim personally,' Gonzalez said. 'We made sure all the floaties were inflated, air mattresses, coolers, getting everything ready, just in case that we need to, you know – survive.' He gave a 'last goodbye' to his sister on FaceTime. The group was gearing up to escape through two big windows in the attic. 'At that moment of me getting ready, in my mind it crossed that some of us aren't going to make it out alive,' Gonzalez said. 'In my mind, I was just thinking, 'Well, I might see some of my friends pass away this morning.'' At Camp Mystic, more than 100 game wardens and an aviation group tried to get into the site early Friday morning – but could not access it. Soon, swift water rescues were underway across the area. Texas authorities announced they were 'surging all available resources' to respond to the flooding, and seasoned volunteers also headed to Kerr County to help. West of Kerrville, Mariyah Bonilla in San Angelo, Texas, watched as two officials rescued a man holding onto a pole in a flooded street. Carl Jeter heard a woman's screams outside his Texas home, he told CNN. It was the woman who had been camping with her family. 'I'm gonna get help,' Jeter told her. 'We're gonna make sure we get you out of there.' He then dialed 911. As Ricky Gonzalez and his friends stood at the attic windows, Leo and Paula Garcia were driving by to check on their family's property – where they discovered 'everything was gone,' they told CNN. Leo Garcia told his wife he saw someone in the second-story window. The water had just receded enough that they could wade through thigh-deep, debris-filled water to the house. 'We all got out and just went over to the house and helped' Gonzalez and his friends out of the house, Leo Garcia said. 'I think they were just so much in shock that they did not realize that the water had receded enough where they could have walked out.' The Garcias took Gonzalez and his friends, along with their five pets, back to their house and fed them. They even drove the group to the airport, Gonzalez told CNN, so they could rent vehicles, since theirs were swept away in the floodwaters. 'We just tried to do what we do best, and that's to just take care of people,' Paula Garcia said. Jeter waited for authorities with the woman clinging to the tree for about 30 minutes. But no one came. So Jeter got in his car and flagged down a Department of Public Safety officer in the area. A swift water team arrived later and put a life vest on the woman before she jumped from the tree into the team's boat, then to Jeter's home, where she waited for her family. 'It's a true miracle,' Jeter said. 'We've been on the river for a long time, and that's not something that is survivable.' At Camp La Junta, Wyndham and his friends 'woke up again to more water,' he said. The Boyett brothers and their fellow campers suddenly realized the dangerous situation they were in. 'Oh my God, we're floating,' Ruffin Boyett realized, he said. The campers had to make a quick decision. 'The flood started getting bigger,' Piers Boyett said. 'We have bunk beds in our cabin, and (the water) was going to the top bunk. We had one choice, and we had to swim out of our cabins.' The campers sought higher ground and eventually had to swim to safety, one camper's father told CNN. They made their way to a service road, where they were rescued by emergency personnel. At Camp Mystic, a quick-thinking security guard placed campers on mattresses to help them ride out the rising waters. 'I witnessed firsthand the courage and faith that your daughters displayed during some of the most terrifying moments of their young lives,' Glenn Juenke told CNN. 'Each of those sweet girls (were) cold, wet, and frightened — but they were also incredibly brave. They trusted me, and we leaned on each other through a long, harrowing night together inside their cabin.' Camp counselors, many of them teenagers, also helped children escape their cabins through windows and move to dry land in the middle of the night, one mother of three Mystic campers told CNN. 'Two counselors were in the rapids and one on the dry hill moving the kids from hand to hand,' the mother said. 'A lot of them lost their shoes and then climbed up the rocky hill to safety.' It wasn't until after midday that authorities were able to enter Camp Mystic and start rescuing children, according to officials – among them, a congressman's daughters. But many still were unaccounted for. Across the youth camps, parents were advised to call for information. Wyndham's parents got a text message from the camp notifying them of the flood and that the campers were accounted for. Still, it kept raining, with flood emergency advisories extended and Kerr County residents urged to shelter in place. Authorities announced that 13 people had died Friday afternoon. By Friday evening, authorities said Camp Mystic was the only camp of the 18 or so along the rivers with people still missing. Search and rescue teams were trying to find 'about 23' children unaccounted for, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Among them was 9-year-old camper Janie Hunt, whose family said they were 'just praying' for their 'brave and sweet' daughter. 'That does not mean they've been lost, they could be in a tree, they could be out of communication,' he said. 'We will do everything humanly possible to find your daughter,' Patrick said. Texas Game Wardens arrived at the camp Friday evening to help with rescues. Other families began reuniting with children shaken by their ordeal. Brock Davis, who had just graduated kindergarten, was 'super traumatized once we reunited with him,' his mother told CNN. 'He was just shell shocked.' Wyndham's parents picked him up Friday night. 'All those boys were pretty traumatized,' his mother, Amy Etheridge, said. As search and rescuers worked to find the living and recover the bodies of the dead, the death toll rose to 24 later Friday night. Authorities pledged to keep searching. 'They will continue in the darkness of night. … They will be nonstop, seeking to find everybody who is unaccounted for,' Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday night. At least 14 helicopters, 12 drones and over 500 people from various units were rescuing adults and children – some out of trees – in Kerr County on Friday. Overnight, connectivity problems worsened the situation. Search teams, working in pitch black darkness, were unable to communicate effectively because radios were down and cell phones didn't work. By morning, tragic news began emerging from the camps: Ragsdale, the 'heart and soul' of Heart O' the Hills, had died, the camp announced. And Janie Hunt, a 9-year-old at Camp Mystic, was dead, her mom told CNN. On Saturday, search and rescue efforts continued, with some people picked out of trees. The Kerrville mayor warned, 'People need to know, today will be a hard day,' his voice wavering as he made his opening remarks at a news conference. As water receded along the Guadalupe, even more rain prompted additional flash flood emergencies elsewhere in Texas. And 27 people were still missing from Camp Mystic. The horror campers endured became clear as responders combed the flood zone. 'There was nowhere for these kids to go. The buildings were washed out, just carved out from the inside,' said Nick Sorter, a member of the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer rescue group from Louisiana. Near the camp, 'the people have lost everything. If your house was even close to the riverbank, it's gone, swept off the foundation,' Sorter said. 'At this point, we don't know how many people were even home when this happened. If you were home … you probably got swept down the river.' But Saturday, communications were better than overnight, with some regaining contact using Starlink, a system now being deployed in every first responder vehicle across Kerr County to prevent future disruptions, Sorter told CNN. Still, rescue operations were complicated by a severe debris field, with downed trees blocking the path of riverboats, he added. Low-hanging clouds also prevented helicopters from reaching the area, slowing down efforts. Local residents began jumping in to help, like Daric and Heidi Easton, restaurant owners in downtown Kerrville, Texas, who pivoted to feeding first responders and individuals affected by catastrophic flooding in the area. Daric Easton said his own daughter is around the age of the girls missing from Mystic. 'I can't imagine what these parents are going through, and I don't need to. I just need to make sandwiches,' he told CNN. 'If I keep making sandwiches, people can still be fed. If responders are fed, then they can save lives,' he said. Then, more tragic news: The families of missing Mystic campers Sarah Marsh, Lila Bonner and Renee Smajstrla confirmed they died in the flooding. Sisters Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11 – who were not at the camp – were also found dead. By Saturday afternoon, the overall death toll was 32, including 14 children. Texas Gov. Abbott visited Camp Mystic on Saturday to see the place 'horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster,' he said. The governor described seeing rushing water reach the top of the all-girls camp cabins, calling the sight 'shocking' in a post on X. 'We won't stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins,' Abbott said. First responders, families and volunteers continue to look for the missing – some of whom have now been out of communication for two days. The family of Ella Cahill says she, along with her friends Reese Manchaca, Joyce Badon and Aidan Heartfield, are still missing after severe flooding struck their area in Kerrville, Texas, on Friday. Mackenzie Cahill-Hodulik told CNN her family was headed to Kerrville to search for her missing sister and her friends. Her sister's home is gone, she said. 'It's just slab,' Cahill-Hodulik said. 'Their belongings are scattered across the river side, even miles away. The car they came in is in the river.' Across Kerr County, more than 850 people in Kerr County have been brought to safety so far, according to authorities, with Texas Game Wardens saying they airlifted 302 people in a search and rescue operation involving 158 off-road vehicles, 37 boats, 10 search and rescue teams, two helicopters, rescue swimmers and 16 drones. But the death toll has continued to rise, with more than 80 reported dead as of Sunday evening. The death toll includes at least 28 children in Kerr County, where 10 campers and one counselor are still missing from Camp Mystic, authorities said. Robert Brake and his brother Lucas, who haven't heard from their parents since the early hours of Friday morning, are now in Kerrville, Texas. Brake told CNN they regularly check in at the local funeral home that stages bodies of those recovered from search operations. 'It's an emotional rollercoaster,' Blake said tearfully. 'You go, and you don't want to hear they're here, but when they say they're not there, it's just one more ounce of hope – and that's all we can ask for.' CNN's Karina Tsui, Diego Mendoza, Alaa Elassar, Rebekah Riess, Hanna Park, Lauren Mascarenhas, Chris Boyette, Maureen Chowdhury, Danya Gainor, Amanda Musa, Julianna Bragg, Pamela Brown, Ed Lavandera, Sarah Dewberry, and Shoshana Dubnow contributed to this report.
