Impacts and casualties
Before the floods,over 300 children from several churches attended a church camp at the Pot O' Gold Ranch,located about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Comfort,Texas. On July 17,the camp was planning to conclude on that day when the floods hit. [2]
At around 2 a.m. CDT,officers were notified to the camp and again four hours later of flood wave coming down the Guadalupe River and to not try and cross the river. Around 7:45 a.m.,a caravan of buses and a van left the camp. [2] The buses and van encountered a flooded low water crossing on the Guadalupe River just outside the camp gate and decided to turn away and try an alternate route. While the first buses manage to escape,the rapidly rising water from the river caused the water to overflow,and the backwash from the convoy caused the last bus to stall and a van behind it to be left stranded. [2]
An attempt was made to evacuate the children off the bus and van,however as they were wading back to dry ground,a huge flood wave crashed upon the campers,with forward speed of 70 mph (110 km/h). [3] The campers and adults attempted to reach dry ground through a human chain,but the rushing water scattered them. Thirty-nine teenagers and four adults were swept into the flood waters. Ten of the teenagers tragically drowned. The remaining 33 children and adults survived as a result of a series of rescues,including dramatic helicopter rescues of several clinging to tree tops,conducted by Texas Department of Public Safety,the US Army's 507th Medical Division,and a local television news station from San Antonio,Texas. [2] [4]
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