Camp Mystic, the Christian summer camp for girls on the Guadalupe River girls went unaccounted for in catastrophic flooding on Friday, is nearly a century old, reports The New York Times. Its facilities include a recreation hall that was constructed in the 1920s from local cypress trees, it said.
In a brief email to parents on Friday morning, Camp Mystic said it had sustained “catastrophic level floods.” The camp said it is co-operating with the authorities for the search and rescue operations, but that it did not have electricity, water or Wi-Fi and was struggling to get more help because a nearby highway had washed away.
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Texas flooding
The camp’s website said it was established in 1926, and has been run by generations of the same family since the 1930s, the NYT report said. The current owners, Dick and Tweety Eastland, have been with the camp since 1974.
The all-girls Christian summer camp in Texas has been a destination for the daughters of Texas’s political elite since it was founded nearly a century ago, according to The New York Post. Camp Mystic is situated along the Guadalupe River in the tiny town of Hunt.
The daughters of former Texas Govs. Dan Moody, Price Daniel and John Connally, who was shot as he sat next to President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, all attended the camp.
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Meanwhile, the parents of the missing girls posted photos of their young daughters on social media with pleas for information. At least 24 people were dead and many missing after a storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain just before dawn Friday and sent floodwaters gushing out of the Guadalupe River, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told reporters Friday evening. The flood-prone region known as Hill Country is dotted with century-old summer camps that draw thousands of kids annually from across the Lone Star State.
As of Friday night, authorities said 237 people had been rescued, including 167 by helicopter. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha, along with local and state officials, provided updates during a press conference on Friday night.
Camp Mystic is a private Christian summer camp for girls aged 7 to 17. Established in 1926 by University of Texas coach E.J. “Doc” Stewart, the camp has long been a cherished retreat in the Texas Hill Country. Campers participate in a variety of activities, including archery, kayaking, drama, and spiritual development, according to its website. The camp operates multiple sessions throughout the summer, including two- and four-week terms at both its original Guadalupe River site and the newer Cypress Lake campus, as per NewsWeek.
