Eight-year-old girls at sleep-away camp, some for the first time. Out-of-town families spanning generations, crammed into recreational vehicles to relax by a river in Texas Hill Country. Local residents, traveling to or from work, or simply sleeping at home.<\/p>\n
In the predawn inkiness of Independence Day, the rains came, and the waters rose. And rose. And rose. By Wednesday morning, at least 119 people had died from the Guadalupe River pouring over its banks. Many perished in the dark, in raging floodwaters, as they were swept out of cars, cabins, houses and trailers. The disaster ranks as one of the deadliest for children in the United States in recent decades.<\/p>\n
Among the dead: at least two dozen girls and staff members at a storied Christian summer camp, a 23-year-old police officer and his parents camping in their R.V., a 62-year-old woman driving to her job at Walmart.<\/p>\n
And there will be more. As of Wednesday morning, more than 161 people were missing from one county alone \u2014 Kerr \u2014 northwest of San Antonio, according to Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas.<\/p>\n
Stories are emerging about some of the victims, as identified by The New York Times through interviews with families, school officials, church leaders and official statements.<\/p>\n
The Times will continue to update this page with glimpses into the lives of the victims of the Texas floods.<\/p>\n
Campers and Vacationers <\/p>\n
People have long come to Texas Hill Country to boat and fly fish in tranquil waters teeming with largemouth bass and catfish, and hike rugged terrain with views of limestone canyons that are surrounded by wildflowers and cypress and pecan trees. Visitors browse antique shops and wineries, or check out a century-old rodeo, and look for gray foxes, armadillos and white-tailed deer. This bucolic region is also known as Flash Flood Alley.<\/p>\n
He was a beloved high school teacher who would often bolt out of his classroom on Friday afternoons so he and his wife could take Shiloh, their son, to rodeo competitions.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\u201cShe was an incredible wife, daughter, mother, grandmother and person who spent her life helping kids,\u201d Victoria Eads, her daughter, wrote in an email. Her mother helped children in the foster care system when she worked in early education as a psychologist. She also helped young people during her time as a college professor, her daughter wrote. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via Odessa Police Department<\/p>\n
Mr. Martin, the son of Bobby and Amanda Martin and an officer with the Odessa Police Department, was camping with his parents when the floods hit.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n
Mr. Zunker was the boys\u2019 soccer coach at Tivy High School in Kerrville; Ms. Zunker had recently stepped back from teaching English in the same district. The soccer team at the school credited Mr. Zunker as someone who \u201crebuilt the soccer program and left a legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via Mackenzie Cahill-Hodulik<\/p>\n
Ms. Badon, who was from Beaumont, was staying with Reese Manchaca and other friends at a house in Hunt.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via Mackenzie Cahill-Hodulik<\/p>\n
Ms. Manchaca was a student at the University of Texas at San Antonio.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Ms. Ramsey, who was from Lewisville, northwest of Dallas, was camping in her R.V.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n
The Rushings, who were from Sulphur Springs in East Texas, were camping in their R.V.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The Burgesses were camping with their young sons, while their daughter was at a nearby camp. Mr. Burgess was a financial adviser, Mrs. Burgess an elementary school teacher. In a statement, the Liberty ISD Education Foundation, where Mrs. Burgess had worked since 2019, saluted \u201cher bubbly personality, radiant smile and deep love for her students.\u201d Their daughter is safe.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Local Residents <\/p>\n
Some who died were retired and had lived in these parts for years. Others were newcomers, just starting jobs and putting down roots. They were going about their routines on the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n
Ms. Burwick was driving to her job at a Walmart in San Angelo when her vehicle was caught in rising floodwaters, according to her son, Zac Burwick. She lived in Blackwell, about 48 miles north of San Angelo. \u201cShe had a heart of gold,\u201d Mr. Burwick said. \u201cShe never knew a stranger and loved everybody that was around her.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Ms. Richardson moved to a small cabin along the Little Creek river in Liberty Hill three years ago, right behind a care center for people with disabilities where she worked. She is survived by two daughters and five grandchildren. She loved to crochet, and her daughter, Deliah Greenslet, said that items Ms. Richardson made for her family \u2014 baby blankets, hats, tapestries \u2014 are some of the only items she has left to remember her mother by.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Ms. Graves lived in Ingram, in Kerr County, according to an obituary notice. She and her late husband had two children, 10 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Ms. West had worked for decades as an electronics inspector at Texas Instruments. The night before she died, Ms. West\u2019s daughters said, family members had driven her to the family\u2019s cemetery plot to show her some new lighting on one grave. She approved, telling them she would like lights on her own grave when her time came. She also wanted \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d played at her funeral.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Mr. Brizendine was a Navy veteran who for many years worked as a nurse at Austin State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, before retiring. When he wasn\u2019t working, several of his friends said, he liked to go country-western dancing. He also loved tinkering with clocks and could repair anything from vintage grandfather clocks to newer wristwatches, his friends said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Mr. Venus, who served in the Army for 33 years, delivered medication to hospitals and nursing homes. His son William Venus Jr. live-streamed the search for him on Facebook, drawing residents to help. Searchers found his body on Monday, the son said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Ms. Frizzell, who lived in the Casa Bonita subdivision in Hunt, once owned a clothing boutique in Abilene. After her late husband was diagnosed with dementia, she helped others who were dealing with that and supported the Alzheimer\u2019s Association of Abilene, according to an obituary notice.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
“She was my whole world,” Jermaine “J.J.” Jarmon, Ms. Martin’s longtime partner, said. “She took care of everything I had, and was proud to help anyone she could.”<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Summer Camp Kids <\/p>\n
Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp near Hunt, Texas, which has been run by the Eastland family since the 1930s, is revered by parents and alumni that includes three generations of descendants of Lyndon Johnson. The former first lady, Laura Bush, once worked as a counselor. About 750 girls were attending Camp Mystic this week. <\/p>\n
Several girls who died or are now missing were in the low-lying cabins on the \u201cflats,\u201d where younger campers stay, less than 500 feet from the river. Most of the dead who have been identified, so far, were 8 or 9 years old, and were sleeping in the same cabin, nicknamed Bubble Inn.<\/p>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Camp Counselors and Directors <\/p>\n
People working for Camp Mystic also died, including teenage counselors and the longtime director. The same is true of another nearby camp, Heart O\u2019 the Hills.<\/p>\n
via The Kerrville Daily Times<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Other Out-of-Towners <\/p>\n
Some people who were not from the region were staying with friends and relatives, or were passing through for reasons that have not yet been confirmed.<\/p>\n