Camp Mystic, Texas and floods
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In response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county’s flood map to remove 15 of the camp’s buildings from the hazard area.
Satellite images show the damage left behind after floodwaters rushed through Camp Mystic, Camp La Junta and other summer camps on July 4.
Young girls, camp employees and vacationers are among the at least 120 people who died when Texas' Guadalupe River flooded.
Dick Eastland, the Camp Mystic owner who pushed for flood alerts on the Guadalupe River, was killed in last week’s deadly surge.
Torrential rains pounded Central Texas on Friday, dropping more than 10 inches of rain and causing the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet, flooding Camp Mystic and nearby areas in Kerr County. By Saturday morning, it was confirmed that Dick Eastland, 70, had died. News of his death quickly spread across generations of Camp Mystic alumni.
Radar data can estimate rainfall to a fairly accurate amount. The rain data in the case of the deadly tragedy that unfolded in the Texas Hill Country last weekend shows exactly why the area around Camp Mystic and the Guadalupe River, outside of San Antonio, had such a raging flash flood.
With more than 170 still missing, communities must reconcile how to pick up the pieces around a waterway that remains both a wellspring and a looming menace.
MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATION: The catastrophic flooding struck on Friday, causing a surge of 20 to 26 feet on the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, causing widespread damage. President Donald Trump has signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, which is west of Austin.