Texas Summer Camp Evacuated 70 Staying Near River Ahead Of Flooding: 'saw It Coming'

A Texas summertime camp adjacent nan Guadalupe River evacuated astir 70 children and adults aft campy officials noticed rising waters and a deluge of rainfall early connected nan Fourth of July. 

The 500-acre Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, a recreation destination which had been hosting a summertime camp, arsenic good arsenic a younker convention pinch churches crossed nan U.S., is located astatine nan headwaters of nan stream and had been monitoring nan business for astir 24 hours, Mo-Ranch communications head Lisa Winters told KENS5.

It was astir 1 a.m. Friday erstwhile a accommodation manager, Aroldo Barrera, notified his boss, who had been monitoring reports of nan storms approaching, nan Associated Press reported. 

Despite nan absence of informing by section authorities, campy officials astatine Mo-Ranch acted quickly connected their own, relocating astir 70 children and adults staying overnight successful a building adjacent nan river. With nan kids safe, campy leaders including President and CEO Tim Huchton avoided nan catastrophe that deed astatine slightest 1 different campy adjacent Hunt, Texas.

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Volunteers hunt for missing group on nan banks of nan Guadalupe River aft caller flooding connected Sunday, July 6, 2025, successful Hunt, Texas.  (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

"They helped them battalion up," Winters told nan AP connected Sunday. "They sewage them up, they sewage them out, put them up connected higher ground."

Other places fared overmuch worse. Flash floods roared done Texas Hill Country earlier dawn connected Friday, decimating scenery adjacent nan stream and leaving much than 80 dormant and dozens unaccounted for. As of Sunday, officials said 10 girls from nearby Camp Mystic remained missing. Rescue and betterment teams combed nan area for them and others still unaccounted for days afterward. 

"We person nan awesome blessing and advantage of being elevated capable to get group to a higher ground," Winters told KENS5 connected Saturday. "We were making our plans and changing our plans and moving group up to higher crushed good successful beforehand past night." 

She said Mo-Ranch had been hosting respective 100 campers, respective 100 group from nan conference, arsenic good arsenic regular guests location for nan vacation weekend, each of whom were accounted for. She explained that nan campy was without power.

"Mo-Ranch is simply a Christian-based camp, and we hole kids to beryllium beardown and to beryllium resilient, and to person religion that they tin get forward," Winters told KENS. "The ironic portion of this, nan large younker ceremony that I attended past nighttime – we conscionable changed plans because we knew thing was coming – nan full taxable was accent and worry for kids and really to conflict it and really to beryllium powerful. They conscionable put this into place, and they pulled together." 

"I can’t opportunity location wasn’t anxiety. I wasn’t correct location erstwhile it happened. But everybody was prepared. Everybody was strong. Everybody safely made it through," Winters said. 

The determination to time off added to nan mounting accounts of really camps and residents successful nan area opportunity they were near to make their ain decisions successful nan absence of warnings aliases notifications from nan county.

Local authorities person faced dense scrutiny and astatine times person deflected questions astir really overmuch informing they had aliases were capable to supply nan public, saying nan reviews will travel later, according to nan AP. For now, they opportunity they are focusing connected rescues. Officials person said they did not expect specified an aggravated downpour, nan balanced of months’ worthy of rainfall for nan area.

A position of Camp Mystic aft flash flooding successful Hunt, Texas, connected July 5, 2025. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

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Winters told nan AP that Mo-Ranch received nary nonstop accusation from region officials astir flooding that could – and did – return lives. 

"We had nary informing this was coming," Winters said, adding that it would person been "devastating" had campy officials not been looking astatine upwind reports and nan rising stream waters. 

Mo-Ranch "saw it coming good successful advance, and they did thing astir it," she said.

Winters told KENS that location are hundreds of camps located on nan Guadalupe River, and Mo-Ranch sits connected nan apical of nan cliffs successful Hunt. 

By astir 7 a.m. connected Friday, campy unit began contacting children's parents, telling them their kids were safe. 

"They knew that those parents would aftermath up and conscionable spot each this media footage of kids lost, aliases nan river," Winters told nan AP. "They’re like, ‘Tell your parents you’re OK’ … We made judge each azygous guest, each azygous kid, was accounted for."

A position wrong of a compartment astatine Camp Mystic, a riverside summertime campy successful Texas. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

The camp, which sits connected higher crushed than immoderate successful nan area, suffered immoderate damage, but not arsenic important arsenic others, Winters said. 

"The buildings don’t matter," she said. "I can’t ideate losing children, aliases people." 

She said a sturdy aluminum kayak was wrapped astir a character "like a pretzel." 

"That conscionable shows you nan sheer power of nan water. I don’t cognize really immoderate group could survive. We’re blessed," she said.

The campy remained closed connected Sunday and Mo-Ranch was moving connected ways to thief different camps affected by nan flood.

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"We’re successful a difficult spot because others are really suffering," Winters, who became affectional during an interview, told nan AP. "We’re a sisterhood of camps. We return attraction of each other."