Central Texas Flash Floods: Camps Mystic, Heart O’ the Hills

Posted on July 7, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Google Maps image: Guadalupe River, Texas, looking toward Cypress Creek. (April 2023)
Guadalupe River, Texas, looking east toward Cypress Creek. (Google Maps 2023)

Folks living in central Texas are not having a good time. A heavy storm’s rain overloaded waterways before sunrise Friday morning.

Some folks enjoying an Independence Day weekend in that region’s picture-postcard landscapes survived. Others didn’t.

Folks who have been helping sort out the mess have been finding some survivors, and many non-survivors. I’ve started seeing specifics about that: names, circumstances, facts that won’t come close to fully describing the people we lost.

The seemingly-inevitable political sound and fury working off the tragedies started yesterday (Sunday, July 6, 2025) — the usual baying of the hounds. I won’t be talking about that.

I will talk — briefly — about what I noticed in news coverage, how I see the situation, and the slight change it’s made in my daily routines.

Late-Breaking News: Details, Discrepancies, and Making Sense

Something that disturbed me early on, apart from what obviously was an appalling loss of life, were inconsistencies in the news.

For example, an article said that 27 pre-teen girls had been at a summer camp, and that the camp was not in session at the time.

I ran into that Saturday morning, but didn’t start posting about ‘Sinister Discrepancies at Summer Camp: WHAT ARE THEY HIDING???’ I’d probably get a whole lot more attention if I did, and that’s another topic.

Turns out that there are — or were — at least two camps involved.

They weren’t much more than a mile apart. One, Heart O’ the Hills, was on the Guadalupe River. Another, Camp Mystic, was sort of on the Guadalupe, but mostly on Cypress Creek. If I’m getting the names wrong, sorry about that: it’s what I found on Google Maps.

The point is that both camps were hit, hard. One was in session, the other not. Names of the camps and other details started getting resolved over the weekend. I’ve put a couple excerpts and links at the end of this post.1

So, how come I didn’t see accurate coverage Saturday morning?

Priorities, Questions, and a Pre-Dawn Disaster

Part of the problem, I very strongly suspect, involves what’s important and what’s not.

A few hours after a major regional disaster most, if not all, of the folks who have any solid information are in the field. They’re trying to find people who are still alive, or coordinating efforts of those who are actively searching.

Making time to slowly and carefully explain to hyperventilating reporters which camps have how many known missing and dead? That might not be a high priority.

What’s obvious, so far, is that searchers have found almost a hundred dead bodies; and that the area’s getting more heavy rain and flash floods.

What may never be obvious is how so many folks apparently didn’t realize a flash flood was happening until they were in the water.

My guess, and it’s no more than that, is that flash floods don’t happen often enough in any one place to encourage staying up all night, waiting for a warning. Or evacuating low-lying spots each time there’s a heavy rain.

Notices that flash floods were in progress getting posted, starting around four in the morning — that probably accounts for much of what happened.

Disaster, Deaths, Doing What I Can

It hasn’t been all bad news.

Searchers have been finding folks who were still alive.

And I’ve been running across accounts of folks who’d been caught in the flood and risked their own lives to help others.

“…Julian Ryan, 27, died after trying to help his family escape their trailer home in Ingram, according to his sister, Connie Salas….

“…Dick Eastland, who served as the longtime director of Camp Mystic with his wife, died trying to save the lives of his campers, according to public officials….”
(“Texas flooding victims: From young campers to a dad saving his family, what we know about the lives lost” ; Emily Shapiro, Peter Charalambous; ABC News (July 7, 2025))

I’m not at all happy about what happened: but it’s nice, learning that folks do what’s right in difficult situations.

Now, looking at the ‘so what’ angle.

What happened in central Texas doesn’t affect me directly.

I didn’t know anyone who was in that area, and hadn’t been aware of either of the summer camps that were washed away. I gather that Camp Mystic has been owned and operated by the same family for generations, and that’s almost another topic.

Slight Change in Routine, Prayers

On the other hand, now I do know a little about the folks involved. Not much, but enough to let me include them in my daily prayer routine.

Part of that inclusion would have happened anyway, even if I’d never heard of the Independence Day floods. This prayer for the dead has been part of my routine for some time:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

But now that I know about what’s happening near the Guadalupe River, I’ve been asking God to comfort and console the survivors. And help everyone involved cope with what they’re experiencing.

I know: that’s no practical help at all.

But I’m just some old guy living in central Minnesota. There’s precious little I can do to change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in my bare hands, and — well, you get the picture.

I did find some maybe-useful prayer resources. Those, I can share:

I’ve maybe raised questions without answering them. I wrote most of this Monday afternoon — if you’ve got questions, put them in a comment. If I’ve got an answer, or at any rate a response; I’ll respond.

Anyway, I’ve talked about disasters and making sense before:

1 Sunday, July 6, 2025; facts starting to get sorted out:

“…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 was also deluged.

“Its co-owner and director, Jane Ragsdale, was among the dead. Fortunately, the camp was out of session at the time….”
(“A girls’ summer camp swept away by a ‘horrific’ deluge” ; Gary O’Donoghue, Chief North America correspondent; Ana Faguy, BBC News (Saturday afternoon, July 6, 2025)) [emphasis mine]

From Wikipedia, Saturday, July 6, 2025, including links to the article’s sources:

“…At 1:18 pm CDT on July 3, 2025, the National Weather Service (NWS) office in San Antonio, Texas issued a flood watch for Kerr County and other areas that would later be impacted by severe flooding. The watch warned of 1-3 inches of rain, with isolated areas seeing closer to 5-7 inches. The watch noted that there would be ’rounds of scattered to widespread showers and storms with heavy rain rates possible.’[6]

“Early on July 4, the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) branch of the NWS issued a mesoscale precipitation discussion citing that ‘areas of flash flooding will be likely across central TX overnight with very heavy rainfall expected. Hourly rainfall in excess of 2 to 3 inches seems reasonable given the environment and localized 6-hr totals over 6 inches will be possible’, and detailing that the potential flooding may have ‘significant impacts’.[7] Another discussion issued at 6:27 am used stronger wording, warning that ‘Considerable to catastrophic flash flood impacts can continue to be expected.’[8]

“Numerous flash flood warnings were issued throughout the event. Several of these warnings contained dire flash flood emergency wording. The first flash flood emergency was issued for Hunt and Ingram in Kerr County at 4:03 am on July 4, warning residents to ‘SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!’ and that rainfall rates of 2-4 inches/hour would continue to impact the area which had already seen 4-10 inches of rain.[9] By 4:05, the Guadalupe River at Hunt had risen to 21.99 feet, rising over ten feet in an hour and reaching major flood stage. The river continued to surge, reaching 37.52 feet and still rising at 5:10 am when the gauge at Hunt stopped updating. This level marked the second highest ever recorded at Hunt, surpassing flash flooding that occurred in 1987.[10][11] Multiple summer camps near Hunt, notably Camp Mystic, experienced catastrophic flooding. At Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls, at least five campers aged 8-9 died, alongside a dozen that remain missing. [evening of July 6, 2025] The camp’s director and co-owner, Dick Eastland, also died, reportedly while trying to save campers from floodwaters.[12][13] Another nearby girl’s camp, Heart O’ the Hills, was not in session, however the camp’s director Jane Ragsdale died during the flooding.[14]…”
(July 2025 Central Texas floods > Preparations and Impact, Wikipedia (taken 5:50 p.m. (Minnesota, CDT (10:55 PM UTC/GMT) July 6, 2025) [emphasis mine]

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Remembering a Favorite Fourth, Looking Ahead

Posted on July 5, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Anonymous photo from The Old Car Manual Project: Brochures. 1957 Pontiac Chieftain four-door sedan. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Chieftain
My folks had a 1957 Pontiac Chieftain four-door sedan, not unlike this one.

Many towns here in central Minnesota host fireworks displays on Independence Day, but not Sauk Centre.

Fireworks and Family

Brian H. Gill's photo: Sauk Centre's Sinclair Lewis Days parade. (July 20, 2013)
Sauk Centre’s Sinclair Lewis Days parade. (July 2013)

It’s not that the town disapproves of the Fourth of July, or fireworks, or loud noises: our big-deal midsummer celebration is Sinclair Lewis Days, later this month. And that’s another topic.

Going to fireworks displays wasn’t part of this household’s way of life, back when our kids were growing up.

Again: it’s not that we disapprove of fireworks. In this case, it just didn’t happen. More accurately, as our oldest daughter reminded me, my wife “had a rather strict bedtime for us even in the summer. And actually going would cost money”.

On the other hand, back in the day, my folks took me to July Fourth celebrations. We lived in Moorhead, Minnesota: Independence Day fireworks displays weren’t more than a few blocks from where we lived.

The times I remember in any detail, we walked: either to Concordia Field — this was before they put a football stadium, classroom buildings, residence halls, an organic garden, a baseball field — basically, while it was still one big open space.

Right. For a while, Moorhead’s Independence Day fireworks were on Concordia Field. Later, the displays were on Moorhead State’s — it’s MSUM now — football field.

I’ve got a few maybe-worth-retelling memories of those outings, including the time Moorhead’s Fourth of July fireworks should have been rained out.

Tucked Under the Rear Window

Brian H. Gill's photo of an Independence Day
Patriotic pop can. (2008)

Anyway, today I’ll focus, briefly — very briefly — on one of the earliest times my folks took me to see fireworks.

I’m pretty sure it was while our 1957 Pontiac Chieftain was new.

I remember almost nothing of that night’s fireworks. But I do remember how my folks took me to see them.

We went around the time I would have been going to bed.

The evening must have been cool, since they wrapped me up and packed me onto the shelf under the rear window of the family car. My oldest daughter, reading this, said “I hope it was parked”.

I don’t remember, one way or the other. This was the mid-1950s. Most Americans weren’t nearly as hypercautious as we are now, and risk perceptions were — different.

I remember watching flashes in the sky, noticing how warm the air around my nose was whenever I breathed out, and how little room I had to move.

And I remember how much I enjoyed the experience.

I’d probably grown to big to fit there by next year’s Independence Day, since that’s the only time I remember being under the rear window.

I probably enjoyed watching fireworks more on those later Fourth of July celebrations: but that one, when I was tucked under the rear window, is still among my favorites.

“The End of Civilization as We Know It”: As Usual

Dik Browne's 'Hagar the Horrible:' 'It may be the end of civilization as we know it.' (February 25, 1973)
“It may be the end of civilization as we know it.” 😉 Wisdom in the comics.

This is where I could either ramble on about what a great country America is: or how it’s doomed, DOOMED, because we’ve got problems. I could, but I won’t.

Yes, we have problems. That’s nothing new.

One reason I think America is a great country is not that we’re practically perfect in every way, but that we’ve got a track record of acknowledging problems and dealing with them. It’s often — very often — been grudging acknowledgement, and that’s yet another topic.

Love of Country, Human Nature, and Working for Tomorrow’s Good

Udo Keppler's 'False Alarm on the Fourth' cartoon for Puck. Uncle Sam tells Lady Peace: 'It's all right. There's no fighting. The noise you hear is just my family celebrating!' (1902)
“A False Alarm on the Fourth”
Udo Keppler, Puck. (1902)
“Uncle Sam — It’s all right! There’s no fighting!
The noise you hear is just my family celebrating!”

As for how I feel about my country: I like being an American.

It’s a personal preference: not particularly connected to something we’re getting right at the moment, or whatever mess we’re in.

I also love my country: within reason. It’s an obligation that comes with being a Catholic. But it’s not my top priority. Letting love of country slop over into worship of country is a bad idea. A very bad idea. (Catechism, 2112-2114, 2199, 2239)

“… ‘Our true native land is heaven, where the kingdom of God is in full bloom,’ the supreme chaplain (Archbishop Lori) affirmed. Nonetheless, he added, ‘We must love our country as it is, not as we may wish it to be … This doesn’t mean we should be complacent or settle for the status quo. It only means we can’t defer love of country until everything is shipshape’….”
(“125 Years of Patriotic Service” , Columbia staff, Columbia Magazine (April 2025) [emphasis mine])

Jaime Jasso (Visual Development Director at Tencent Games): 'Coppernica City', detail; based on Robert Stromberg's concepts and work (Planet Bajor). (2016) see www.artstation.com/artwork/3LQrB used w/o permissionLet’s see. What else? Ah. Right: something a former president said about human nature, and what strikes me as a good idea. I’ve shared this quote before:

“…Human nature will not change. In any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we will have as weak and as strong, as silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Let us, therefore, study the incidents of this as philosophy to learn wisdom from, and none of them as wrongs to be revenged….”
(“On Democratic Government” ; Response to a Serenade, November 10, 1864; Abraham Lincoln (November 10, 1864) via Project Gutenberg) [emphasis mine]

I think there’s wisdom in remembering that the mix of enthusiasts, crackpots, just plain folks, and the occasional person with a good idea — is pretty much what we’ve had from day one.

And that change happens. It’s always “the end of civilization as we know it”. I see that as a good thing, since it means we can work toward correcting today’s problems: and help build a better world for coming generations.

I’ve talked about this before:

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Happy Birthday, America: 1776-2025

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Flag of the United States of America.

Today’s Independence Day for my country. We’re celebrating the 249th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence’s signing.

I think it’s a big deal. But I think how we go about being citizens is important, too. Arguably more important.

Tomorrow I’ll post something about family, fireworks, and love of country. Citizenship, too, but I’ve gone into that in more detail elsewhere:

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A Vacation, Rain, Comic Books, and a Waterlogged Dad

Posted on June 28, 2025 by Brian H. Gill

I’ll have my oldest daughter tell most of this ‘family story’. That’s partly because this is shaping up to be a distracted week.

The family was on one of our rare vacations. Our third-oldest daughter was old enough to remember the trip, and our son hadn’t been born yet. That puts it some time back. Decades.

We’d planned the vacation pretty well, so we had a place to stay for each night. But we ran into one of those stock comedy situations: a big-deal family vacation where it rains. A lot.

I’ll have our oldest daughter pick up the narrative at this point.

[oldest daughter] “…We went to Itasca, I think, once when I was little. I remember some things, mostly that it rained a lot.

“I just remember lots of pine trees, a cabin with a bathroom that didn’t have a light switch (the light turned on if the door was closed), and sitting at a picnic table under a glass dome in the rain.
…
[oldest daughter] “And you coming into the dome, hunched over, looking less-than-pleased at the weather, and carefully pulling out three copies of the same comic book. One for each of us.

“And then being very annoyed at yourself when you took a closer look and realized it was a part 1.

“I was just happy to have a comic book.

“I wasn’t expecting to get any of the other parts, especially with the noises Mom was making. Then several months later, you came home with the other parts.”
(Discord chat (June 23, 2025))

Memories and Filling in Gaps

It’s funny, how memory works.

My wife tells me we were coming back from Duluth, stopped off for the night somewhere around Itasca. She doesn’t remember how I found the place.

I remember that bathroom with the trick lighting: probably energy-efficient, but took getting used to. The picnic table under a glass dome — that, I don’t remember at all. Which is odd, since it’s the sort of architectural/design detail I’d expect to get etched into my memory.

Going out in the rain: that, I do remember. My goal hadn’t been getting comics. I don’t remember what the reason was. I think it might have been getting some routine toiletry that we’d forgotten: and a wind-up alarm clock. We’d planned ahead, but not perfectly.

I hadn’t found what we needed at the first place I checked, and maybe not the second. It’s been a long time, and how many places I tried is one of many details I don’t remember.

From my viewpoint, finding those comics was a bonus. Getting them wasn’t entirely altruistic, since I figured they’d help lift the mood. And besides, these were Darkwing Duck comics: so I’d be enjoying the story, too. The Darkwing Duck series started in 1991, and I’m drifting off-topic.

Not a Collector: Just a Guy Looking For Those Comics

Getting three copies was, I grant, a bit much. But the expense was well within budget. Finding the rest of that series became something of a quest.

Comics like that weren’t on the shelf in Sauk Centre. I ended up having a conversation with either a distributor or the publisher.

A remarkable fraction of our talk involved me convincing the man at the other end that I really didn’t care about whether the copies were printed for mailing or retail, or whatever. That’s when I realized he probably assumed I was a collector. And that’s another topic.

I’ll have my oldest daughter pick up the narrative at this point.

“The Coolest Dad Ever”

[oldest daughter] “Have I ever mentioned that you’re the coolest dad ever?”

[me] “You may have –

“Funny, I don’t remember trying to be a ‘cool dad’ ”

[oldest daughter] “Don’t know about [second oldest daughter] and [third oldest daughter], but I definitely would’ve liked to see the comics. I didn’t expect to, but seeing them was awesome.”

[me] “I wasn’t so sure I could do it, myself – – but worth a try ”

[oldest daughter] “That makes you cool.

“And talking to me like a person.”

[me] “Well, of Course – – – you ARE a person!!! – but I know what you mean ”
(Discord chat (June 23, 2025))

A couple things going on here worth mentioning:

  • “Cool dad”
  • Being a person

I did a very quick check this week, and found ‘cool parent’ used fairly often.

Usually, whoever was writing defined ‘cool parent’ as someone who treats the kids with respect and listens to what they say.

A very few wrote about ‘cool parents’ who let the kids run wild, gave them whatever they asked for, and acted surprised when something went horribly wrong.

That surprised me, since I’d expected the ratio to go the other way.

As for talking to our oldest daughter as if she’s a person: that’s no great virtue on my part.

For one thing, I remember being young.

I realized some adults talking down to kids probably meant well, and thought — if they thought about it at all — that it was either necessary, or ‘what one does’ when speaking to youngsters. But I didn’t enjoy the experience. At all. So, as an adult, I avoided that behavior.

For another, I think human beings are people. All human beings. And I think giving people a measure of respect makes sense.

That’s just my experience and opinion.

Showing Respect, Being a Parent

More to the point, I’m a Catholic: so respecting humanity’s transcendent dignity and acting as if people matter — well, it matters. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1928-1942)

It’s like I said last week: human beings are people. Individual details, including age, health, or social status, don’t matter. Each of us is a person, made “in the image of God”. And, being a gift from God, human life is precious, sacred. (Genesis 1:26–27, 2:7; Catechism, 355-357, 361, 369-370, 1700, 1730, 1929, 2258-2317)

Wrapping this thing up:

Being told I was “the coolest dad ever” — in the ‘cool parents show respect’ sense — felt good, very good indeed. It’s nice, decades later, getting feedback like that.

I’ve talked about being part of a family, acting as if people matter, and vaguely-related topics, before. If I’ve got time and focus before Saturday, I’ll add the usual links.

I hope you enjoyed parts of this account of a waterlogged dad and comic books: and may God bless.

I had time, so here are those ‘family and acting as if people matter’ links:

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What a Weekend!

Posted on June 22, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Weather.gov national map, Sunday, June 22, 2025.
This afternoon’s weather. (June 22, 2025)

First it was storms, now (I’m writing this Sunday evening) sincerely noticeable heat.

And I see there’s a tornado watch on, northwest of us.

Something I learned from that KSTP article — the “Eagle’s Healing Nest” is a metaphoric name, it’s a facility for veterans, service members, and their families on the north side, no actual eagles involved — folks at that north side facility — nobody hurt, happily — asked neighbors for help, and volunteers showed up.

It sounds like a mess. A few broken windows, hail damage, and 25 trees down.

Here on the south side, where I live, no damage that we’ve noticed: and I’ve been sincerely glad the power came back on. Air conditioning is nice to have in weather like this.

Our number-two daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, and number-one daughter live on a homestead up in the Red River Valley. They’re all okay. Son-in-law noticed weather happening and got everyone into the basement. Their house is okay, too. Some cottonwood trees and the old ash tree are down, along with assorted branches.

They operate a wood mill, west of the house. I gather that it’s mostly okay, but winds peeled off a substantial part of the roof. Still, it could have been worse. This could have happened as winter was setting in.

I really hope they don’t get more ‘interesting’ weather this evening.

I’m not sure how much I’ll get done this week. Effects from Friday night’s disrupted sleep — number-one daughter suggested that having an inactive CPAP might be a factor — are mostly gone, but there’s some medical stuff coming up.

‘Nothing serious’, I trust. But last Thursday I experienced my first biopsy. Fascinating process. Maybe I’ll talk about that. Then again, maybe not.

Meanwhile — I do pay attention to my news feed, and am aware of what’s been going on. That’s not something I plan on writing about right now. Partly because I talked about that sort of thing about a year ago.

Now, since I want to get this wrapped up and start relaxing, the usual links:

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