Texas Flood Update: 43 Dead, Including 15 Children

The death toll in the devastating Guadalupe River flash flood in Texas has risen to 43 — including 28 adults and 15 children in Kerr County, officials said in a grim Saturday night update.

At least five of the dead — Renee Smajstrla, 8; Sarah Marsh, 8; Janie Hunt, 9; and Lila Bonner, 9, and Eloise Peck, 8 — were attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer retreat for girls where 22 other campers were still unaccounted for.

Family members took to social media to post the heartbreaking news.

“Thank you to all our friends and family for all the prayers and outreach. Renee has been found and while not the outcome we prayed for, the social media outreach likely assisted the first responders in helping to identify her so quickly,” her uncle wrote on Facebook along with a picture of the young girl beaming.

“We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday. She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic. Please continue to pray for the other families in Kerrville.”

Sarah, of Mountain Brook, Alabama, was also found dead, her mother confirmed to The Post.

“Our sweet Sarah is gone!” her grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh, wrote Saturday.

“We will always feel blessed to have had this beautiful spunky ray of light in our lives. She will live on in our hearts forever! We love you so much sweet Sarah!”

Lila’s family confirmed her death in a statement in which they described suffering “unimaginable grief,” according to NBC News: “We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly.”

Lila and Eloise were best friends and cabinmates at Camp Mystic. The two girls had just finished second graf at Bradfield Elementary school, according to Fox 4.

“Eloise was literally friends with everyone. She loved spaghetti but not more than she loved dogs and animals,” her mom Missy Peck told the network. “Eloise had a family who loved her fiercely for the 8 years she was with us. Especially her Mommy.”

Texas officials refused to confirm the identities of the dead or missing, saying they were protecting the privacy of the grieving families.

Officials said 12 adults and five children have not yet been identified. Another press conference is expected Sunday morning.

The family of Mystic’s director, Dick Eastland, confirmed he heroically died while trying to save the young girls from the storm.

Eastland raced to one of the camp’s 23 cabins when the floodwater swept it away early Friday morning, Channel2Now reported.

Another director at nearby Heart O The Hills Camp also perished in the flood. The camp — located just one mile north of Camp Mystic — was not open at the time, but Director Jane Ragsdale was on the property when the floods suddenly surged.

“We are mourning the loss of a woman who influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful,” the camp wrote on its Facebook Page.

“There are so many great people in this community that are responding and moving quickly, lives lost saving people, like camp directors. I’m going to let other people name names and stuff. That’s not my job here,” said Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville.

As many as 27 girls at Camp Mystic were swept away by the dangerous floods early Friday morning — including some who were in cabins that were washed out.

Mystic Camp is a 99-year-old sleepaway camp that serves more than 750 girls between the ages of 7 and 17 and operates two sites alongside the Guadalupe.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” Elinor Lester, 13, one of the evacuated campers, told The Associated Press.

“A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”

Harrowing photographs showed the damage wrought by the floodwaters, which reached the middle of the windows of the cabins where the girls slept, and higher than the bunk beds.

Entire walls were ripped off the buildings, trees uprooted and the girls’ belongings tossed into shrubbery.

One soaked and mud-covered moose plushy was heartbreakingly lying on the outdoor steps of the cabin.

Local reports indicate that some of the Camp Mystic girls were rescued and were transported to family reunification centers.

One missing camper, Annie Flack, was home safe Saturday, her mother told The Post.

“There are lots of families missing, children and friends missing. Our daughter is safe. Our son is safe. The operation to get the girl camp out did a good job. It was very organized, and we’re still hoping and praying for good news for friends that are hoping and praying for good news,” Ashley Flack said, adding that her son was at the nearby La Junta camp.

“We certainly feel that our children are fine and processing.”

At least 858 people were rescued during search missions, eight of whom were injured.

Campers at other sites in the surrounding areas were all accounted for, but were stranded.

“We have a lot of camps and they are all accounted for, but they are isolated because of road damage. So we know where they’re at, we’re getting them food, water, resources. Now it’s a matter of just getting them safely across low water crossings or other areas to other shelters,” Rice said.

The Guadalupe River — on which Camp Mystic is perched in the San Antonio suburb of Hunt — rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a level of flooding the area hasn’t seen since 1987.

A flood alert went out at 4 a.m. when most people were sleeping.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly eerily warned that the rescue missions, though ongoing, would soon turn into recovery, but when pressed, said that every missing person is considered to be alive until otherwise proven.

“That’s going to be a long, toilsome task for us. And what I would reiterate that I’ve heard others say is as long as we stay together, we’ll get this done,” he said at a presser Saturday evening.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday added six other counties — Bexar, Burnet, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Travis and Williamson — to a disaster declaration he signed the previous day, bringing the total to 21.

The State of Texas has deployed more than 1,000 state responders and more than 800 vehicles and equipment assets, and more than 15 state agencies are currently responding to the flooding threat across the state.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requested four fixed-wing aircraft from the Coast Guard to join in the search.

The Texas National Guard was activated and is orchestrating helicopter searches, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is also assisting.

Searches went on Saturday morning as rain continued to fall across Hill County, with officials warning of the ongoing threat of possible flash flooding extended from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours.

On Saturday, President Trump said his administration was working with Texas state and local officials and that Noem was expected to join on the ground.

“Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!” he wrote on Truth Social.

The Guadalupe River previously flooded across Kerr County in 1987, overtaking a church bus and killing 10 teenagers.

The campgrounds do not have a warning system in place, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said.