A girls' summer camp cut short by deadly disaster

Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ camp perched on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas, was a place of laughter, prayer and adventure just days ago.

Among the girls at the camp was eight-year-old Renee Smajstrla, smiling ear-to-ear in a picture taken on one of those days – “having the time of her life” with her friends.

But the next day, the camp she and so many other young girls loved turned into the site of one of the deadliest flood disasters in recent Texas history.

Renee was among those killed.

“She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic,” her uncle Shawn Salta wrote on Facebook.

Photos show the eerie aftermath: the bunk beds mud-caked and toppled, the detritus of a summer camp cut tragically short.

Destroyed personal belongings are scattered across soaked interiors where children once gathered for Bible study and campfire songs.

At least 59 people – among them the camp’s longtime director, Richard “Dick” Eastland, and several young campers – have been confirmed dead.

Eleven of its campers and one camp counsellor are missing. Many of the unaccounted-for girls were reportedly sleeping in low-lying cabins less than 500ft (150m) from the riverbank.

Stella Thompson, 13, was in a cabin on higher ground at the camp when storms awoke her early on Friday.

As helicopters began buzzing overhead, she realised something was badly wrong. The girls in her cabin learned the Guadalupe River side of the camp had flooded.

“When we got that news, we were all, like, hysterical and praying a lot,” Stella told a Dallas NBC affiliate.

“And the whole cabin was, like, really, really terrified, but not for ourselves, worried for those on the other side.”

Stella described the “horrific” scenes as she and other survivors were evacuated by military trucks.

“You’d see kayaks, like, in trees… then there was first responders in the water pulling out, like, girls.

“And there were huge trees ripped out of the ground and, like, their roots, and it didn’t look like Camp Mystic anymore.”

On Sunday, the rain was pouring down as the BBC reached the camp.

The entrance was cordoned off by police and the rubble of what might have been some kind of gatehouse was strewn across the ground.

More rain is forecast, which will make the rescue effort even harder.

Three days after the deluge, hope is fading and this is rapidly becoming a recovery exercise more than a rescue mission.

Camp Mystic has been operated by the same family for generations, offering girls a chance to grow “spiritually” in a “wholesome” Christian atmosphere, according to its website.

Families from all across Texas, including the political elite, and the US send their daughters each summer to swim, canoe, ride horses and form lifelong friendships.

But the beauty of the Guadalupe River, which draws so many to the area, also proved deadly.

The floodwaters arrived with little warning, ripping through the picturesque riverfront area that is home to nearly 20 youth camps.

Though Camp Mystic suffered the greatest losses, officials say the scale of the disaster is far-reaching.

Nearby, the all-girls camp Heart O’ the Hills also faced flooding.

Its co-owner and director, Jane Ragsdale, was among the dead. Fortunately, the camp was out of session at the time.

A statement from the camp said, “Most of those who were on camp at the time have been accounted for and are on high ground… We are mourning the loss of a woman who influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful.”

An unknown number of other campers were in the area for the holiday weekend.

Questions are mounting over why so many camps were situated so close to the river, and why more was not done to evacuate the children in time.

Congressman Chip Roy, who represents the area, acknowledged the devastation while urging caution against premature blame.

“The response is going to be, ‘We’ve gotta move all these camps – why would you have camps down here by the water?'” Roy said.

“Well, you have camps by the water because it’s by the water. You have camps near the river because it’s a beautiful and wonderful place to be.”

Families of the missing meanwhile face an agonising wait for news. Search and rescue teams – some navigating by boat, others combing through debris – are working round the clock.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said on Sunday the search for survivors continued.

“Until we can get them reunited families, we are not going to stop,” City Manager Dalton Rice said.

Governor Greg Abbott has declared a state of emergency, and officials warn the final toll may rise in the days to come.

As for Stella, she finds some solace in a poem taught by Camp Mystic leaders.

“A bell is not a bell until you ring it.

“A song is not a song until you sing it.

“The love in your heart was not put there to stay.

“Love is not love until you give it away.”