Latest news with #HollyKateHurley
Fox News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Camp Counselor Recounts Her Escape From Deadly Texas Floods
Last Friday, floodwaters devastated Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp located in Hunt, Texas. At least 27 girls and counselors have been confirmed dead. Holly Kate Hurley, a counselor at Camp Mystic, joins the Rundown to describe what she witnessed and share her story of survival. The Supreme Court announced it would hear two cases involving transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia, potentially settling the nationwide debate over trans competitors in sports. This announcement came just one week after the Trump administration reached an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania over this issue. West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey joins the podcast to break down exactly why transgender athletes competing in women's sports violates Title IX. Plus, commentary from 'The Mom Wars' podcast and Substack creator, Bethany Mandel. Photo Credit: AP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
News.com.au
08-07-2025
- Climate
- News.com.au
‘I don't think I'll ever forget': Camp Mystic counsellor on devastating moment after deadly Texas flood
A Camp Mystic counsellor has shared the devastating moment 'I don't think I'll ever forget' in the wake of deadly flooding in Texas over the weekend. The death toll from the catastrophic flooding has surpassed 100 people, as rescuers continued their grim search for those swept away by torrents of water. Among the dead were at least 27 girls and counsellors who were staying at the Christian youth summer camp, which abuts the Guadalupe River. The all-girls camp in Kerr County was housing about 750 people when the floodwaters struck, with the river surging by up to nine metres above its usual level. One counsellor, Holly Kate Hurley, said she was woken at about 1.30am to 'rain … coming through our windows'. 'I woke my girls up, told them to close the windows and then the power just went out, all the fans turned off, running water didn't work,' the 19-year-old told Fox News. 'In the morning, they gathered all the counsellors that were at Cyprus Lake and they told us that two of the cabins with the seven-year-old girls were wiped away and all these girls were missing. 'And we went back to our cabins and tried to keep up good spirits with these young girls. I think I was just in shock.' Ms Hurley also recalled the heartbreaking moment her campers were reunited with their families. 'Seeing little girls run to their parents and just hug them and cry, and also just seeing some parents who were looking for their little girls and they weren't there … That's just a sight I don't think I'll ever forget,' she said. Callie McAlary, who was rescued from Camp Mystic, described the harrowing ordeal over the weekend to Fox News. 'We went to bed thinking it was just a normal thunderstorm. One minute you see lightning strike next to your cabin, and next to you, you hear water's coming up,' the 16-year-old camp attendee said. 'And you have kids running just trying to get to other cabins, trying to get to safety. And luckily, my cabin was one of the few cabins that did not get water, but the cabins in front of us did get some water.' In an effort to protect herself and prepare for the worst-case scenario, the teen put a name tag on her body in the middle of the night. 'I put on my name tag because I was scared that if water was coming out next to other cabins that our cabin might be next,' she said. 'And I just put it on just for safekeeping … in my head I was saying, 'If something does happen, and I do get swept away, at least I'll have my name on my body'.' Ms McAlary said she was holding on to hope that the rest of her friends and all those who are missing are found soon. 'I really hope those kids that are missing are found. I knew a lot of those kids and a lot of those kids the night before hugged me before we all went to bed,' she said. 'And it's hard to think about that one minute they were hugging me and the next minute they could be gone.' Sisters heartbreaking final text to parents Two sisters killed in the floods were found with 'their hands locked together', grieving family members said as they continue to search for the girls' missing grandparents. Blair and Brooke Harber, 13 and 11, died while on a family trip in Casa Bonita, a gated community in the town of Hunt that was struck by the devastating deluge early on Friday morning, The New York Post reported. The rushing water woke the girls' father, RJ Harber, around 3.30am, his sister Jennifer told KLOU, and the rain was pounding so hard outside that it was nearly impossible to hear the water pouring through their cabin door. Around the same time, Brooke texted Mr Harber and her maternal grandparents 'I love you', Jennifer wrote on a GoFundMe for the family. Mr Harber and his wife, Annie, shattered a window and clambered outside in a desperate bid to reach their daughters, who were staying in a separate cabin. But the raging waters prevented them from reaching the other structure. In a last-ditch effort, the couple hurried to another neighbour's house and woke the family up to borrow their kayak and paddle through the flood. The waters, however, were too rough, and the parents wound up being rescued along with five surviving neighbours, Jennifer wrote. When the sisters were found 12 hours later and 15 miles away, 'their hands were locked together,' Jennifer told KLOU. Forecasters have warned of more flooding as rain falls on saturated ground, complicating recovery efforts involving helicopters, boats, dogs and some 1750 personnel. 'There is still a threat of heavy rain with the potential to cause flooding,' Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement on Tuesday, with the number of victims expected to rise still. President Donald Trump confirmed he planned to visit Texas this Friday, as the White House slammed critics claiming his cuts to weather agencies had weakened warning systems. 'Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved life, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. She said the National Weather Service (NWS), which The New York Times reported had several key roles in Texas unfilled before the floods, issued 'timely and precise forecasts and warnings'. Mr Trump has described the floods that struck in the early hours of last Friday as a '100-year catastrophe' that 'nobody expected'. The President, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state level, has signed a major disaster declaration, activating fresh federal funds and freeing up resources.
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Counselor reveals heartbreaking sight after she delivered last surviving Camp Mystic children to parents... as those left realized the worst
A Camp Mystic counselor described the heartbreaking sight of parents desperately searching for their children after the Texas floods that took the lives of 27 of her campers and colleagues. The Biblical Texas floods have killed at least 100 across the state as of Monday afternoon, with 75 bodies having been recovered in hard-hit Kerr County alone. Two brave Camp Mystic staffers died trying to save young girls as the Guadalupe River flooded and surged by up to 30 feet above its usual water level on Friday. Authorities are racing against the clock as they continue their urgent search for 10 missing campers and one counselor. Camp Mystic counselor Holly Kate Hurley, 19, recalled the heartbreaking scene that followed as parents tried to reunite with their daughters. 'Seeing little girls run to their parents and just hug them and cry, and also just seeing some parents who were looking for their little girls and they weren't there... But, that's just a sight I don't think I'll ever forget,' she told Fox News. Hurley said she is thankful to the Army soldiers who helped them evacuate, but will never forget the moment when the water completely flooded the dam and swept away the camp's waterfront cabins with campers still inside. 'I was with my campers in the middle of the night, it was about 1.30 in the morning. And rain just kind of started coming through our windows. I woke my girls up, told them to close the windows and then the power just went out, all the fans turned off, running water didn't work,' she said. She added: 'In the morning, they gathered all the counselors that were at Cyprus Lake and they told us that two of the cabins with the seven-year-old girls were wiped away and all these girls were missing. 'And we went back to our cabins and tried to keep up good spirits with these young girls. I think I was just in shock.' The National Weather Service has extended a flash flood watch for the Texas Hill Country, where an additional one to three inches of rain is expected to fall Monday, until 7pm local time. Officials have come under scrutiny as to why residents and youth summer camps along the river were not alerted sooner, but White House leaders have insisted there were no errors. Hurley was a regular at Camp Mystic, having attended as a camper from the age of ten before joining the staff as a counselor. A heartbreaking photo showed an entire cabin of Camp Mystic girls and counselors who were washed away in the horrific Texas floods. The 13 girls and two counselors were staying in Camp Mystic's Bubble Inn cabin, which, alongside the Twins cabin, housed the youngest of the girls, aged 8 to 10. The cabins were less than 500 feet from the river and thus took in water from two directions - the Guadalupe river and a creek nearby, making the girls' escape particularly challenging. The bodies of nine of the girls and counselor Chloe Childress, 18, have been found as of Monday morning, while counselor Katherine Ferruzzo and four campers remain missing. Those confirmed dead are: Janie Hunt, Margaret Bellows, Lila Bonner, Lainey Landry, Sarah Marsh, Linnie McCown, Winne Naylor, Eloise Peck, Renee Smajstrla and Mary Stevens. Camp Mystic father-figure and owner, Richard 'Dick' Eastland, 70, died while trying to save the young girls. Crews are trudging through debris and wading into swollen riverbanks in search for victims. Joyce Boden's father Ty found another dead child while frantically hunting for his daughter. Ty Badon was scouring the epicenter of the carnage for his 21-year-old daughter when he stumbled across a little boy, who is one of at least 89 people killed by the inundation. Joyce's mother Kellye Badon broke the terrible news on Facebook Monday afternoon that she did not survive. With more rain on the way, the risk of more flooding is still high in saturated parts of central Texas. Survivors have described the floods as a 'pitch black wall of death' and said they received no emergency warnings. Officials have come under scrutiny as to why residents and youth summer camps along the river were not alerted sooner about the severe weather or told to evacuate. The White House has hit out the 'depraved' Democrats who are blaming President Donald Trump for the catastrophic floods in Texas. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Trump's critics for suggesting that his cuts to NOAA and FEMA contributed to the devastation. 'Unfortunately, in the wake of this once-in-a-generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer and some members of the media,' she said. 'Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning.'
