Twin Sisters, Camp Mystic’s Leaders Among Texas Flood Dead/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Flash floods in Texas claimed over 100 lives, including twin 8-year-olds, camp leaders, and other victims cherished in their communities. Camp Mystic and surrounding areas were devastated as rivers surged to record levels. Rescue efforts continue as families and towns grieve profound losses.
Quick Look: Texas Flood Victims Remembered
- Twin sisters Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, age 8, from Dallas, perished at Camp Mystic.
- Beloved Camp Mystic director Dick Eastland died helping campers.
- Counselor Chloe Childress and several campers remain missing.
- Reece and Paula Zunker, educators and parents, lost in floods.
- Janie Hunt, 9-year-old relative of Chiefs owner, confirmed dead.
- Tanya Burwick, Walmart worker, drowned near San Angelo.
- Jane Ragsdale, director of Heart O’the Hills camp, remembered.
- Sarah Marsh, Alabama student, died while attending Camp Mystic.
- Sisters Blair and Brooke Harber missing after cabin swept away.
- Over 12,000 structures damaged, communities unite in support.
Twin Sisters, Beloved Camp Staff Among Those Lost in Texas Floods
Deep Look
Two bright-eyed 8-year-old sisters from Dallas. A cherished camp director. A young Alabama girl away at summer camp. These are just a few of the many lives cut short by the devastating flash floods that swept through central Texas over the weekend, claiming more than 100 lives and leaving search teams still combing the region for the missing.
The deadly waters surged from the Guadalupe River on Friday, turning cherished summer traditions into scenes of heartbreak and loss.
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, twin 8-year-old sisters from Dallas, were among those who perished in the flooding at Camp Mystic.
The girls had just finished second grade.
“Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others,” said their parents, John and Lacy Lawrence, in a statement. “We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them. But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time.”
Their grandfather, David Lawrence, former publisher of the Miami Herald, said the family is enduring “an unimaginable time.”
“They and that joy can never be forgotten,” he said.
University Park Elementary School, where the girls attended, shared condolences on its website and noted that “numerous” students had been in the Texas Hill Country during the floods.
“We are deeply saddened to report the loss of multiple students, and our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families deeply affected by this unimaginable tragedy,” the school posted online.
Reece and Paula Zunker
Reece Zunker, described as “a passionate educator and a beloved soccer coach,” worked at Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas.
“His unwavering dedication to our students, athletes, and the Tivy community touched countless lives and will never be forgotten,” the school said in a statement Sunday.
His wife, Paula Zunker, was a former teacher at the same school. “The care and impact she shared with her students continue to be felt, even years later,” the post read.
Their young children, Lyle and Holland, remain missing. The family had been staying at a river house in Hunt.
Dick Eastland
Dick Eastland, director of Camp Mystic, was among the flood’s victims.
Paige Sumner, a former camper, wrote in The Kerrville Daily Times that Eastland was “the father figure to all of us while we were away from home.”
She recalled him bolting from his office at the first call of trouble, whether it was a minor injury or a snake in the river.
Eastland’s grandson, George, paid tribute on Instagram, saying his grandfather “showed me what a strong Christian man looks like” and adding, “If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for.”
Sumner added that while the camp had rain plans in place, this level of flooding was “unprecedented.”
Chloe Childress
Nineteen-year-old Chloe Childress, a counselor at Camp Mystic, was among those killed.
“She lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith,” her family shared in a statement.
Childress, a recent graduate of Houston’s Kinkaid School, was remembered for her compassion and ability to make others feel seen.
“Chloe had a remarkable way of making people feel seen. She was wise beyond her years,” said Jonathan Eads, the school’s head, in a letter to the community.
Janie Hunt
Janie Hunt, just 9 years old, was a relative of Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.
Her mother, Anne Hunt, confirmed Janie’s passing to CNN, while her grandmother spoke with The Kansas City Star.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt’s wife, Tavia, posted on Instagram: “If your heart is broken, I assure you God is near. He is gentle with your wounds. And He is still worthy — even when your soul is struggling to believe it.”
Tanya Burwick
Tanya Burwick, 62, made a frantic phone call about the rising waters early Friday while on her way to work at Walmart in San Angelo. When she didn’t arrive, her employer filed a missing persons report.
Authorities later found her SUV submerged. Her body was discovered the next day a few blocks away.
“She lit up the room and had a laugh that made other people laugh,” said her daughter, Lindsey Burwick.
On July Fourth, as they worked at the family’s fireworks stand, news spread through their small town of Blackwell, where people quickly rallied around the family.
“People came to our aid,” Lindsey said.
San Angelo police noted that over 12,000 buildings in the area had been impacted by the floods.
Jane Ragsdale
Jane Ragsdale, 68, dedicated her life to Heart O’the Hills Camp, where she served as director since the 1980s.
“She was the heart of The Heart,” camp officials said in a statement. “She had the rare gift of making every person feel seen, loved, and important.”
Though the camp was between sessions and no children were present, the facilities suffered significant flood damage.
Ragsdale’s passion for camp life stretched back to childhood. “I loved every minute of camp from the first time I stepped foot in one,” she shared in a 2015 oral history interview.
Sarah Marsh
Eight-year-old Sarah Marsh, of Alabama, was at Camp Mystic when the floods struck. Eleven other children remained missing as of Sunday.
Sarah attended Cherokee Bend Elementary in suburban Birmingham.
“This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school, and our entire community,” said Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch in a Facebook post.
Her family declined interviews but shared: “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.”
Blair and Brooke Harber
Sisters Blair and Brooke Harber, students at St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas, were swept away from their cabin near the Guadalupe River.
Their parents, Annie and RJ Harber, were safe in a separate cabin, though the girls’ grandparents remain missing.
“This tragedy has touched every corner of our hearts,” said Pastor Joshua Whitfield of St. Rita Catholic Community.
Blair, active in volleyball, basketball, and drama, and Brooke, a rising sixth grader and student-athlete, were remembered for their kind hearts.
“We will honor Blair and Brooke’s lives, the light they shared, and the joy they brought to everyone who knew them,” Whitfield wrote.
The heartbreak in Texas continues as search efforts press on. Communities across the state, and far beyond, are left grappling with profound grief and loss — but also bound together in remembrance of those whose lives were cut tragically short.
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