Quick action by one Texas summer camp leads to timely evacuations ahead of deadly flood

It was about a m on the Fourth of July when the facilities manager at a central Texas summer camp saw water from the Guadalupe River steadily rising amid a deluge of rain Aroldo Barrera notified his boss who had been monitoring reports of the storms approaching Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly a recreation destination where an intercultural youth conference had been called off early just hours earlier Despite an absence of warning by local functionaries camp executives acted rapidly on their own relocating about children and adults staying overnight in a building near the river With the kids safe camp leaders including President and CEO Tim Huchton were able to avoid the catastrophe that hit at least one other camp near Hunt where the -acre Mo-Ranch is located They helped them pack up Lisa Winters communications director for Mo-Ranch explained The Associated Press on Sunday They got them up they got them out put them up on higher ground Other places fared much worse Flash floods that roared through Texas Hill Country before dawn on Friday decimated the landscape near the river leaving at least dead and numerous others unaccounted for As of Sunday girls from nearby Camp Mystic remained missing authorities stated Rescue and recovery teams combed the area for them and others still unaccounted for days after the flood The decision to leave added to the mounting accounts of how camps and residents in the area say they were left to make their own decisions in the absence of warnings or notifications from the county Local functionaries have faced heavy scrutiny and at times have deflected questions about how much warning they had or were able to provide the population saying the reviews will come later For now they say they re focusing on rescues Executives have explained they did not expect such an intense downpour the equivalent of months worth of rain for the area Mo-Ranch suffered no loss of life noted Winters adding that the camp received no direct information from county functionaries about flooding that could and did take lives We had no warning this was coming Winters disclosed adding that it would have been devastating had camp administrators not been looking at weather reports and the rising river waters Mo-Ranch saw it coming well in advance and they did something about it she announced By about a m Friday camp staff began contacting children s parents telling them their kids were safe They knew that those parents would wake up and just see all this media footage of kids lost or the river Winters reported They re like tell your parents you re OK We made sure every single guest every single kid was accounted for The camp which sits on higher ground than selected in the area suffered various damage but not as vital as others Winters reported The buildings don t matter she noted I can t imagine losing children or people She revealed a sturdy aluminum kayak was wrapped around a tree like a pretzel That just shows you the sheer power of the water I don t know how any people could survive We re fortunate she disclosed The camp remained closed Sunday and Mo-Ranch was working on solutions to help other camps affected by the flood We re in a complex place because others are really suffering declared Winters who became emotional during an interview We re a sisterhood of camps We take care of each other Source