(AP/KXAN) — A beloved director of Texas summer time camp for ladies. An Alabama elementary scholar away from dwelling. A girl discovered lifeless after an intensive search. These are a number of of the handfuls of victims misplaced in devastating flooding in Texas.
The flooding in central Texas originated from the fast-moving waters on the Guadalupe River on Friday, killing greater than 70 individuals, together with 15 youngsters. Authorities say search and rescue efforts are nonetheless underway for dozens lacking from a summer time camp for ladies.
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Individuals react as they examine an space outdoors sleeping quarters at Camp Mystic alongside the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept by means of the realm Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photograph/Julio Cortez) -
Crews work to clear particles from the Cade Loop bridge alongside the Guadalupe River on Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP Photograph/Rodolfo Gonzalez) -
Officers comb by means of the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept by means of the realm Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photograph/Julio Cortez) -
Individuals consolation one another outdoors the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library in Kerville after heavy rainfall brought about the Guadalupe River to flood and injury a number of communities in Central Texas, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle by way of AP) -
Officers search on the grounds of Camp Mystic alongside the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept by means of the realm Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photograph/Julio Cortez) -
Campers embrace after arriving to a reunification space as ladies from Camp Waldemar, close to the North fork of the Guadalupe River, are reconnected with their households after heavy rainfall in Central Texas, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle by way of AP) -
Onlookers stroll alongside the banks of the Guadalupe River in Louise Hays Park, Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photograph/Rodolfo Gonzalez) -
A Sheriff’s deputy pauses whereas combing by means of the banks of the Guadalupe River close to Camp Mystic after a flash flood swept by means of the realm Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photograph/Julio Cortez) -
Individuals take a look at particles on the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept by means of the realm Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photograph/Julio Cortez)
JANE RAGSDALE
Jane Ragsdale, 68, devoted her life to the Coronary heart O’the Hills Camp, a summer time camp for ladies in Texas Hill Nation. She was a camper and counselor there herself within the Seventies earlier than turning into a co-owner. By the Eighties, she was director of the camp in Hunt.
“She was the guts of The Coronary heart,” the camp stated in a press release. “She was our guiding gentle, our instance, and our secure place. She had the uncommon present of constructing each individual really feel seen, liked, and necessary.”
For the reason that camp was between periods, no youngsters had been staying there when the floodwaters rose. The camp’s services, instantly within the path of the flood, had been extensively broken and entry to the location remained troublesome, in response to camp officers. The camp has been in existence for the reason that Nineteen Fifties.
Camp officers stated Ragsdale could be remembered for her energy and knowledge.
“We’re heartbroken. However above all, we’re grateful,” the camp stated. “Grateful to have recognized her, to have realized from her, and to hold her gentle ahead.”
In a 2015 oral historical past for the Kerr County Historic Fee, Ragsdale, whose first identify was Cynthie, however glided by her center identify Jane, talked about how her father was additionally a camp director and the way a lot she loved her experiences.
“I liked each minute of camp from the primary time I stepped foot in a single,” she recalled.
Movies of Ragsdale strumming a guitar and singing to campers throughout a latest session had been posted in a memorial on the camp’s Fb web page: “Life is sweet in the present day. So hold singing ’til we meet, once more.”
SARAH MARSH
Eight-year-old Sarah Marsh from Alabama had been attending Camp Mystic in Texas, a longtime Christian ladies camp in Hunt the place a number of others had been killed within the floods. As of Sunday, afternoon, 11 youngsters had been nonetheless lacking.
Marsh was a scholar at Cherokee Bend Elementary in suburban Birmingham.
“That is an unimaginable loss for her household, her college, and our whole neighborhood,” Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch stated in a Fb submit. “Sarah’s passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those that knew and liked her.”
He stated the neighborhood — the place about 20,000 individuals reside — would rally behind the Marsh household as they grieved.
Her dad and mom declined an interview request Sunday “as they mourn this insufferable loss,” the woman’s grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh, informed The Related Press in an electronic mail.
“We’ll all the time really feel blessed to have had this lovely spunky ray of sunshine in our lives. She is going to dwell on in our hearts eternally!” Marsh wrote on Fb. “We love you a lot, candy Sarah!”
She declined additional remark.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama additionally famous the woman’s tragic loss of life.
“We proceed to wish for the victims’ family members, the survivors, those that are nonetheless lacking, and our courageous first responders as search and rescue efforts proceed in Texas,” she stated in a submit on social media platform X.
TANYA BURWICK
The final time Tanya Burwick’s household heard from her was a frantic telephone name concerning the flood waters as she headed to work at a Walmart early Friday within the San Angelo space. When Burwick did not present up for work, her employer filed a lacking individuals report and despatched a colleague to search for her.
Police investigating the 62-year-old’s disappearance discovered Burwick’s unoccupied SUV totally submerged later that day. Her physique was discovered the subsequent morning blocks from the car.
“She lit up the room and had amusing that made different individuals chuckle,” stated Lindsey Burwick, who added that her mother was a beloved mum or dad, grandparent and colleague to many.
She and her brother Zac stated the day was particularly troublesome as a result of it occurred on July Fourth as they had been working at a fireworks stand that is been within the household for generations. As phrase of Tanya Burwick’s disappearance unfold, individuals from from Blackwell, a small neighborhood of about 250 individuals, confirmed as much as the stand that is run out of a trailer painted orange.
“Individuals got here to our support,” Lindsey Burwick stated.
Police in San Angelo stated greater than 12,000 homes, barns and different buildings have been affected by the floods locally of roughly 100,000 individuals.
“We ask that the general public proceed to maintain the Burwick household of their ideas and prayers as they navigate this heartbreaking tragedy,” the San Angelo Police Division stated in a Fb submit.
BLAIR AND BROOKE HARBER
Sisters Blair and Brooke Harber, each college students at St. Rita Catholic Faculty in Dallas, had been staying alongside the Guadalupe River when their cabin was swept away, in response to the college.
Pastor Joshua J. Whitfield of St. Rita Catholic Neighborhood, which shares a campus with the college, stated the women’ dad and mom, Annie and RJ Harber, had been staying in a unique cabin and had been secure. Nevertheless, their grandparents had been unaccounted for. Annie Harber has been a longtime trainer on the college.
Blair was headed into eighth grade whereas Brooke was a rising sixth grader.
“We’ll honor Blair and Brooke’s lives, the sunshine they shared, and the enjoyment they delivered to everybody who knew them,” Whitfield wrote in a Saturday letter to parishioners. “And we are going to encompass Annie, RJ, and their prolonged household with the energy and assist of our St. Rita neighborhood.”
The church held a particular prayer service Saturday afternoon and supplied counseling.
“Please hold the Harber household in your prayers throughout this time of profound grief,” Whitfield wrote. “Might our religion, our love, and our St. Rita neighborhood be a supply of energy and luxury within the days forward.”
LILA BONNER
The household of camper Lila Bonner confirmed to Nexstar’s KXAN on Saturday that she was amongst these killed within the flooding. In a press release, her household stated, “We ache with all who liked her and are praying endlessly for others to be spared from this tragic loss.”
LINNIE McCOWN
Austinite Michael McCown posted on Instagram that his daughter, Linnie, didn’t survive the flood at Mystic Camp.
“It’s with the heaviest of hearts we should share that our candy little Linnie is with the Lord in heaven,” McCown stated on Instagram. “She crammed our hearts with a lot pleasure we can’t start to elucidate.”
KXAN’s Kelly Wiley and Sally Hernandez contributed to this report.