We are hearing from a Dallas camper rescued from Camp Mystic.<\/p>\n
Staying on higher ground, 13-year-old Stella Thompson was safe from the floodwaters, yet remains heartbroken for those deeply impacted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think while it was going on I sort of felt a numbness,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cSaying it out loud is making me realize what actually happened and how bad it actually is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just days after being dropped off to start a much-anticipated July term at Camp Mystic, Thompson is now processing the rains that ravaged the beloved camp and claimed the lives of fellow campers.<\/p>\n
Her sixth summer at Mystic, Stella was on the Cypress Lake side when storms rattled her cabin awake early Friday morning.<\/p>\n
At some point during the night, the cabin lost power, and she could see the headlights of camp leaders driving the grounds and checking on cabins in the rain.<\/p>\n
At daybreak, she said they were told to stay inside and breakfast would be delivered.<\/p>\n
She said the waters of Cypress Lake were muddy brown and higher, but they were unaware of what was happening on the other side of the camp.<\/p>\n
On higher ground and out of view of the Guadalupe River side, it wasn\u2019t until helicopters began buzzing overheard she realized something was truly wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s the uncertainty that really shook up our cabin,\u201d Stella said.<\/p>\n
At one point they were told to grab clothes from their trunks so counselors could give dry clothes to fellow campers, then later told to prepare for Guadalupe campers to come to their cabins, but plans kept changing. <\/p>\n
Eventually, her cabin was told campers on the other side had been evacuated due to flooding and realized the large helicopters they were seeing were airlifting girls from the property, but they still had no idea the scope of the crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually when we got that news we were all kind of hysterical and the whole cabin was praying a lot and terrified \u2013 but not for ourselves,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n
Worried for those on the other side, it wasn\u2019t until military trucks arrived to evacuate their side of camp late Friday evening did Stella and those at Cypress Lake got a glimpse at the devastation as they drove out of the property.<\/p>\n
She described seeing huge trees uprooted, vehicles and girls’ camp trunks and clothes caught in trees and first responders searching in the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t look like Camp Mystic anymore,\u201d Stella said.<\/p>\n
During this time her parents drove from Dallas to meet their daughter at a reunification site in Kerr County.<\/p>\n
Their thoughts remain with those grieving and those families still waiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are just so happy that she is safe and we have her,\u201d said mother Casey Thompson. \u201cWe are just grateful to be some of the fortunate ones. So there\u2019s a sense of relief and an equal sense of just awareness of that\u2019s not everybody\u2019s story and that\u2019s just two kinds of competing emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Touched by the outpouring of support for the Camp Mystic community, they hope people will continue to pray for those deeply affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that all the folks who are still missing loved ones are feeling that outpouring of love,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n
Stella is comforted by a quote often echoed by camp owner and director Dick Eastland \u2013 one that is being shared among the Camp Mystic community online.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bell is not a bell until you ring it, a song is not a song until you sing it, the love in your heart was not put there to stay, love is not love until you give it away,\u201d Stella said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really showed me how much of an impact Camp Mystic has had on our lives and how amazing of a place it is and how horrible it is to see it like this because that\u2019s not Camp Mystic.\u201d<\/p>\n
How to help with Central Texas flood relief<\/p>\n
In response to questions about what people can do to help the area recover from the deadly flood, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, a 501(c)(3) charity serving the Texas Hill Country, has established a relief fund to support vetted local response, relief and recovery efforts.<\/p>\n
Organizers said all donations go directly to organizations working on the front lines of the July 4 flooding emergency. All donations are tax-deductible, and you will receive a receipt for your gift.<\/p>\n