Texas Rescuers Race Against The Clock To Find 27 Missing Girls
Cajun Navy volunteers brave treacherous conditions in Texas as they search for over 20 missing girls swept away by catastrophic flooding near Camp Mystic. With rising waters, debris, and communication failures complicating efforts, rescuers race against time to save lives.
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The relentless search for missing children in the wake of Texas's catastrophic flooding continues, with Cajun Navy volunteers facing formidable challenges. Nick Sorter, a member of the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer rescue group from Louisiana, provided a somber update to CNN on Saturday afternoon, July 5, 2025, from the heart of the disaster.
“The people have lost everything. If your house was even close to the riverbank, it’s gone, swept off the foundation,” Sorter said. “At this point, we don’t know how many people were even home when this happened. If you were home … you probably got swept down the river.”
The flooding, which began early on Friday, July 4, has claimed at least 27 lives, including nine children, with the toll expected to rise as rescue operations persist. Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls in Hunt, located perilously close to the Guadalupe River, has become a focal point of the tragedy. At least one girl is confirmed dead, and 27 remain missing, trapped between a cliff and the rapidly rising waters.
“There was nowhere for these kids to go. The buildings were washed out, just carved out from the inside,” Sorter described, highlighting the severity of the destruction.
The rescue efforts are further complicated by a severe debris field, with downed trees obstructing the path of riverboats. Low-hanging clouds have also hindered helicopter operations, slowing down the response. Overnight, connectivity issues exacerbated the situation, as search teams working in pitch-black darkness struggled with non-functional radios and cell phones. However, some teams managed to regain contact using Starlink, a satellite internet system now being integrated into every first responder vehicle across Kerr County to mitigate future disruptions.
Amid the despair, a glimmer of hope emerged with the miraculous rescue of a young girl found alive after being swept 12 miles downstream, surviving by clinging to a tree. “That is nothing short of a miracle,” Sorter said. “It’s remarkable that she was able to survive, that she beat the odds.”
As each hour passes, the outlook grows increasingly grim. The number of missing children has not significantly decreased, and the urgency of the search remains overwhelming. “Time is precious right now, especially when we’re talking about the amount of missing children, these young girls, you see these pictures, and it’s horrifying to even think about,” Sorter lamented.
Authorities report that more than 20 girls are still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, where the Guadalupe River rose more than 20 feet in less than two hours during the torrential rains that triggered the flash flooding. The desperate search continues, with the Cajun Navy and other rescue teams battling poor conditions and debris in a race against time to find the missing children and bring closure to grieving families.