Camper evacuated from Texas floods recalls harrowing hours at Camp Mystic
At least 27 campers and counselors are dead or missing as search and rescue efforts continue.
KERRVILLE, Texas — Lucy Kennedy awoke to a crash of thunder just past midnight.
“I couldn’t fall back asleep,” the 10-year-old recalled on Tuesday, seated beside her mother. “Something just didn’t feel right. I had this sense that something awful was coming.”
Lucy had been tucked into her bunk Thursday night at Camp Mystic, a long-established girls’ summer camp in Hunt, Texas, when torrential rain began hammering the area—one notorious for flash flood risks.
On the “Here’s the Scoop” podcast, host Morgan Chesky takes listeners inside the tragedy, sharing firsthand stories from survivors of the historic Texas floods.
As water began to breach the campgrounds, Lucy and her cabinmates were ordered to gather their essentials—pillows, blankets, and water bottles—and to line up quickly. They were guided to the second floor of the recreation hall, where they huddled in drenched pajamas until they were moved to higher ground at another camp area.
By Friday morning, helicopters began airlifting survivors to safety. Lucy described the scene as “kind of beautiful, but also really sad.”
“Everything looked underwater. Stuff was broken everywhere. It was hard to look at,” she said.
After being flown out, Lucy was transported to a nearby elementary school, where anxious parents gathered inside the gym, waiting for any news. Among them was her mother, Wynne Kennedy.
“When I saw her come through, she was wrapped in a blanket, holding a teddy bear,” Wynne recalled. “We didn’t let go of each other all night.”
Days after the floodwaters swept through the Texas Hill Country, the search for the missing continues. The confirmed death toll across six counties has climbed past 100, with 161 people still missing, Governor Greg Abbott announced Tuesday. Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls operating since 1926, has emerged as one of the worst-hit locations.
According to authorities, at least 27 people affiliated with the camp—campers and counselors alike—are either confirmed dead or still missing. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha stated on Tuesday that five campers and one counselor have yet to be located.
A sign reading “Jesus Wept” was found propped against debris along the Guadalupe River near the camp’s edge—a quiet symbol of mourning.
Officials in Kerr County admitted over the weekend that the scale and speed of the flooding took them by surprise. The Guadalupe River surged by 26 feet in just 45 minutes. Yet some are asking whether enough warning was given in time. At a press conference Tuesday, local officials sidestepped questions about the region’s emergency alert protocols.
In a statement released on its website, Camp Mystic said it is actively collaborating with local and state authorities to assist in locating those still unaccounted for.
Wynne Kennedy, a former staff member at the camp, said she had always believed her daughter was in one of the safest places possible thanks to the camp’s rigorous emergency planning.
“They trained us thoroughly for flood evacuations,” she said. “What happened last week was unlike anything before. The water never even came close to the cabins when I worked there—even during heavy rains.”
The devastation wasn’t limited to the campgrounds. The Kennedys’ home in nearby Kerrville was ravaged overnight. Doors were torn off their frames, a backyard shed disappeared, and a large tree smashed into Lucy’s bedroom. Though they were familiar with sudden floods, Wynne said nothing prepared them for the “wall of water” that came barreling through.
The river they once admired from their kitchen window—sparkling and serene on clear days—is now a raging torrent, brown and littered with wreckage.
Still, Wynne holds on to hope. “It will sparkle again,” she said. “And I believe Camp Mystic will come back stronger. Next year was supposed to be their 100th anniversary. We want to keep that dream alive.”
Lucy reflected on her happiest camp memories—horseback rides, peaceful fishing trips, and a silver charm she earned for her angling skills last summer. She fondly remembered the chef’s salad served every Monday at lunch, her favorite meal at camp.
In Texas, summer camps are often deeply rooted in family traditions. For the Kennedys, Camp Mystic is part of a generational legacy. Wynne’s mother had once been a camper there, and her grandmother a counselor. She described the campers and their families as “one big extended family.”
“Sadly, I know parents whose daughters are still missing. Some have lost their children,” Wynne said. “But I’ve heard them say, ‘They’ll always be at their favorite place in the world—Camp Mystic.’ That thought gives us comfort.”
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