“I’ve lost two friends. We loved them. And they’re gone,” he said through tears.

The floods were triggered by an unexpected downpour—more than a foot of rain fell across the region—causing the Guadalupe River to overflow. Initially, the National Weather Service had predicted far less rainfall, estimating just 3–8 inches depending on the area.

Texas Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd voiced his frustration over the inaccurate forecasts, saying officials weren’t prepared for the scale of the disaster. At Camp Mystic, a popular girls’ summer camp in Kerr County, 27 of the 750 campers lost their lives.

Camp nurse Devon Paige shared a video of the girls enjoying their day just an hour before the flood hit, underscoring how quickly tragedy struck. Social media videos captured the river’s terrifying rise, sparking public outrage.

Many criticized the elimination of flash flood alerts, blaming recent