Young campers, teachers and football coach among Texas flood victims

Young attendees and staff at summer camps are among the victims of flash floods in Texas – along with teachers, a football coach, and a “hero” father who smashed open a window to free his family amid rising water.

At least 89 people are known to have died – most of them in Kerr County. At least 27 girls and staff died at one location, Camp Mystic, alone.

Many of the victims have been identified in the US media by their relatives. Here is what we know so far about those who have been named – many of whom were children.

Camp Mystic is a nearly century-old Christian summer camp for girls on the banks of the Guadalupe River near the community of Hunt.

Operated by generations of the same family since the 1930s, the camp’s website bills itself as a place for girls to grow “spiritually” in a “wholesome” Christian atmosphere “to develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem”.

Renee Smajstrla, 8, was at the camp when floodwaters swept through, her uncle said in a Facebook post.

“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,” wrote Shawn Salta.

“We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday,” he wrote. “She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic.”

Nine-year-old Lila Bonner, a Dallas native, was found dead after flooding near Camp Mystic, according to NBC News.

“In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time,” her family told the news outlet.

“We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly.”

Eloise Peck, 8, was also confirmed dead after the deluge at Camp Mystic, according to CBS News Texas. US media reported that she was best friends with Lila Bonner.

A sign posted outside Eloise Peck’s home said “she lost her life in the tragic flooding”, and asked for privacy for the family.

Sarah Marsh, a student at Cherokee Bend Elementary School in Alabama, would have entered third grade in August.

She, too, was attending Camp Mystic and her grandmother, Debbie Ford Marsh, posted online to say that her granddaughter was among the girls killed.

“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!” she wrote.

In a post on Facebook, Alabama Senator Katie Britt said she was “heartbroken over the loss of Sarah Marsh, and we are keeping her family in our thoughts and prayers during this unimaginable time”.

Nine-year-old Janie Hunt from Dallas, was attending the same camp and died in the floods.

Her grandmother Margaret Hunt told The New York Times she went to Camp Mystic with six of her cousins, who were all safe.

Margaret said Janie’s parents had to visit a funeral home and identify their daughter.

Janie was a great-granddaughter of the oil baron William Herbert Hunt.

Twin sisters Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, 8, also died after attending Mystic, their grandfather told the Miami Herald.

“It has been an unimaginable time for all of us,” grandfather David Lawrence Jr told the newspaper in a statement. “Hanna and Rebecca gave their parents John and Lacy and sister Harper, and all in our family, so much joy.”

David had earlier clarified that the twins’ elder sister Harper was safe.

Richard “Dick” Eastland, the longtime co-owner and co-director of Camp Mystic, died while being flown to a Houston hospital.

The news was confirmed by Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who attended Bible study with Dick and described him as a pillar of the local community.

Dick’s wife, Tweety, was found safe at their riverside home, according to Texas Public Radio.

The Eastlands had run Camp Mystic, a girls’ summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, since 1974, becoming the third generation of their family to do so.

According to the Washington Post, the couple had 11 grandchildren and much of the extended family was involved in camp life.

The couple’s eldest son, Richard, manages the camp kitchen and their youngest, Edward, directs operations with his wife.

Chloe Childress was one of Mystic’s camp counsellors. The 18-year-old’s death was announced by her former high school.

“Chloe made space for others to feel safe, valued, and brave. She understood what it meant to be part of a community, and more than that, she helped build one,” the headteacher of Kinkaid School wrote in a letter.

She was due to start studies at the University of Texas in Austin later this year, ABC News added.

Heart O’ the Hills is another all-girls’ camp that sits along the Guadalupe River, which was in the path of Friday’s flood.

Jane Ragsdale, described as the “heart and soul” of Heart O’Hills, “did not make it”, a statement shared on the camp’s official website said on Saturday.

Ragsdale, who started off as a camper then a counsellor, became the director and co-owner of the camp in 1976.

“We are mourning the loss of a woman who influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful,” the statement said.

No campers were residing at the site when the floods hit and and most of those who were there have been accounted for, according to the statement.

As floodwaters tore through their trailer in Ingram, Texas, Julian Ryan turned to his fiancée Christina Wilson and said: “I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all” – Christina told Houston television station KHOU.

His body wasn’t recovered until hours later, after waters had receded.

Julian had just finished a late dishwashing shift at a restaurant when the Guadalupe River overflowed early Friday.

He and Christina woke to ankle-deep water that quickly rose to their waists. She told the station their bedroom door stuck shut and with water rushing in, Ryan punched through a window to get his family out. He severely cut his arm in the process.

Their 13-month-old and 6-year-old sons and his mother survived by floating on a mattress until help could arrive.

“He died a hero, and that will never go unnoticed,” Connie Salas, Ryan’s sister, told KHOU.

Katheryn Eads, 52, was swept away by floodwaters in the Kerrville area of Texas, early on Friday morning after she and her husband, Brian, who told The New York Times, fled their campervan as rising water surged around them.

Another camper had offered them a ride and they made it across the street before the vehicle stalled in the flood.

Moments later, both were pulled into the current. Brian said he lost sight of his wife after being struck by debris. He survived by clinging onto a tree until he reached dry land.

Katheryn’s body was later recovered.

“God has her now,” her mother, Elizabeth Moss Grover, wrote on Facebook.

Amy Hutchinson, director of Olive Branch Counselling in Texas, where Katheryn had worked, told The Washington Post she was “a hope and a light to all who knew her… a stellar counsellor and professor.”

Teacher Jeff Wilson was also killed in Kerrville, according to the local school authority, which said he was a “beloved teacher and co-worker” who had served the district for more than 30 years.

His wife and son were still missing, according to the post by the Humble Independent School District.

The group were on a camping trip when flooding struck, CBS News Austin reported.

The death of another teacher, Reece Zunker, was announced by a second Texan schools authority.

The football coach died alongside his wife Paula, according to Kerrville Independent School District. Their two children are still missing, the district’s Facebook post added.

“Reece was a passionate educator”, the Facebook post said. Paula, a former teacher, also “left a lasting mark”, the impact of which continued to be felt.

Two sisters from Dallas – 13-year-old Blair Harber and 11-year-old Brooke Harber – were staying with their grandparents along the Guadalupe River when their cabin was washed away, CBS News reported.

The deaths were confirmed by St Rita Catholic Community, where Brooke was due to start sixth grade. Blair was preparing to enter eighth grade.

“Please keep the Harber family in your prayers during this time of profound grief. May our faith, our love, and our St. Rita community be a source of strength and comfort in the days ahead,” said Father Joshua J Whitfield in correspondence with church members.

The girls’ parents were in a separate cabin and were not harmed. Their grandparents are still unaccounted for.

Husband and wife Bobby Martin, 46, and Amanda Martin, 44, also lost their lives, Mr Martin’s father told the New York Times.

They, too, were said to be staying near the river when their vehicle was swept away by rising flood waters.

Bobby was described by a friend who spoke to the Houston Chronicle as a keen outdoorsman and attentive friend, and Amanda was the “same shining light”.

Walmart employee Tanya Burwick, 62, was driving to work in San Angelo when flood water hit early on Friday, family members said.

Her empty vehicle and later her body were found the same day.

“She lit up the room and had a laugh that made other people laugh,” her daughter Lindsey Burwick was quoted as saying by the AP news agency.

Grandmother Sally Sample Graves was another victim of the flooding in Kerrville, according to her granddaughter, who posted a tribute on Facebook.

A huge wave is said to have destroyed Sally’s home.

“Her unwavering dedication to family has left an indelible mark on our lives,” Sarah Sample wrote. Her father survived the incident, she added.

The death of 22-year-old Kaitlyn Swallow in Williamson County was announced by county officials on Saturday.

She was from the Liberty Hill area, and her body was recovered alongside the remains of another person. Officials did not give further information.