# Massive flooding in Texas; 20 children missing from a summer camp **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512 "2025-07-04T21:50:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/121 "2025-07-08T17:53:27Z")
I like that, @kenobi_65. 😄 Seems like Mother-nature took no heed of the “Don’t mess with Texas” slogan ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/122 "2025-07-08T18:28:44Z")
The “Don’t mess with Texas” slogan was originally coined by their state conservation department people back when they funded such things, and the message was actually “Don’t litter”. Which was a very hard sell to the freedumb crowd even decades before the term “freedumb” became common. Sounds like Mother Nature ‘ain’t taking kindly to Texans still messin’ up Texas with their litter an’ ignorance an’ suchlike. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/123 "2025-07-08T20:04:34Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > And, you wouldn’t think it would be possible for any politician to make the same own goal twice in one career, but Ted “Cancun” Cruz was caught on Friday and Saturday enjoying his vacation in Greece, despite his own people saying he got back “as soon as humanly possible”. While I have no hard proof he could have gotten back sooner than the Sunday flight he did take, perhaps being out and about with his family was perhaps not the best optics on the days following a major loss of life in his state. I’ll never understand this criticism of a politician. Sure, there’s plenty of reasons not to like Cruz. But what exactly do people expect him to do even if he drops everything and flies back right away that couldn’t also be handled by Cornyn (to the degree that any Senator could actually do anything) or whoever is in that House district, or state and local government? Constituent services can be handled by his staff and it’s not like he is missing a vote. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/124 "2025-07-08T20:14:12Z")
To some degree to help coordinate federal response, but mainly because a lot of normal people feel the need to have their elected officials available and answering questions and providing another authority figure during an emergency. That may not save a single life but it gives people something better to do than sit there stewing, which is not nothing. Even if he did not rush back, I would have expected him to sit in his hotel, fielding calls and getting regular updates from the various agencies involved, and then helping get that information out to local and national news and aid groups. Could other people have done that? Sure, but it’s his job, even if it’s not explicitly in any job description. He’s been given great power and access to influence and wealth, and if that means one of the many vacations he takes annually is interrupted to any degree to deal with that, well, I feel not a lot of sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/125 "2025-07-08T20:16:19Z")
Two camp counselors, who are from Mexico, took quick action and rescued 20 girls. Say their names: Silvana Garza Valdez and Maria Paula ZĂĄrate. The heroes of this story. > **[Camp Mystic Counselors Wrote Names of the Girls They Were Comforting On Their...](https://www.latintimes.com/camp-mystic-counselors-wrote-names-girls-they-were-comforting-their-arms-while-waiting-help-i-586270)** > > Two camp counselors are being hailed as "guardian angels" after they distracted several girls during deadly thunderstorms that swept through Texas on July 4. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/126 "2025-07-08T21:04:55Z")
I am so glad we know this. Does my heart good. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/127 "2025-07-08T21:36:06Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I’ll never understand this criticism of a politician. Sure, there’s plenty of reasons not to like Cruz. Because this refers to another major disaster: a few years ago there was a major winter electrical outage in Texas: and instead of suffering through the disaster like most other Texans Cruz took his family for a vacation in Aruba. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/128 "2025-07-08T21:39:28Z")
I read that counselors also not allowed to have their phones
you can’t fix stupid. Fucking fundies. đŸ€Ź ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/129 "2025-07-08T22:22:40Z")
Cruz went to Cancun during the 2021 storm. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/130 "2025-07-08T22:27:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Texas: no zoning laws, no flood control, no 
 anything that smacks of responsible governance. > > Why is anyone surprised that stuff like this happens? Gov Abbot was on TV, more or less saying “don’t blame me!” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/131 "2025-07-08T22:37:13Z")
And also saying how quintessentially Texan the situation was. By which he meant people responding to disaster. But he was more right than he knew. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/132 "2025-07-08T22:41:44Z")
Not sure what that has to do with fundies. “No-phone” camps are reasonably popular (or becoming so), and, as far as I know, it’s not too unusual for counselors to just communicate via walkie-talkies to each other. I don’t think there’s any religious tie-in to the cell phone restriction. (Plus, while this camp is Christian, nothing I’ve read made it seem of the fundie ilk or anything like that. So far as I can tell, it’s non-denominational.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/133 "2025-07-08T22:53:05Z")
If we had the ability to modify weather or climate (which are not the same thing), don’t you think the military of every nation on earth would take that knowledge and run with it? This YTer says, at the end of this video, which does contain profanity, “If the government could send Hurricane Helene to that area in North Carolina, why don’t they make a storm of their own and send it to the L.A. area?” > **[The California Fires Are Awful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0guLkMlb9q4%2F)** > > Our new soap is here https://usecheeky.com/#starter-pack-offerGet Goof Juice https://gamersupps.gg/?ref=moistThis is the greatest need for more firefighting ... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/134 "2025-07-08T23:07:15Z")
Apparently because the Evil Ds still control the government depite trump’s depredations and hence the gov’t only sends bad weather to R areas. The fact R areas tend to be poor, stupid, and underequipped w everything associated w effective government & civil society seems to escape notice somehow. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/135 "2025-07-09T00:03:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The fact R areas tend to be poor, stupid, and underequipped w everything associated w effective government & civil society seems to escape notice somehow. - They’re still at the Fuck Around stage. The Find Out Figure It Out, If Ever stage is still to come. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/136 "2025-07-09T00:08:31Z")
> [@MacDoc](#): > > What a horror 8 meters!!! 45 min warning. No escape and most were asleep. đŸ˜Ș There’s escape in most cases but like any flood situation you have to get ahead of it. Any area that has flood water rise that fast/high is going to be a narrow passage of river. From some of the stories of the area they relied on word of mouth from up river but this occurred late at night. It’s a flood prone area. People have to have phones or weather alert radios to stay on top of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/137 "2025-07-09T00:19:03Z")
Surprising: > **[Texas inspectors approved Camp Mystic’s disaster plan 2 days before deadly...](https://apnews.com/article/camp-mystic-floods-state-inspection-ef17d51dc7868fa9cc5c3076c31ed98a)** > > Texas inspectors approved Camp Mystic’s emergency plan just two days before devastating floods killed over 27 people, mostly children, at the Texas summer camp. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/138 "2025-07-09T00:26:44Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Surprising: - > > [Texas inspectors approved Camp Mystic’s disaster plan 2 days before deadly flood, records show | AP News](https://apnews.com/article/camp-mystic-floods-state-inspection-ef17d51dc7868fa9cc5c3076c31ed98a) You expect them to _not_ toe the government line? ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/139 "2025-07-09T00:30:28Z")
Taking phones away from the counselors is the height to stupid. I would not even approve taking phones away from kids especially in a flood prone area. This no tech camp thing is dangerous bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512/140 "2025-07-09T00:39:24Z")
> [@MacDoc](#): > > Taking phones away from the counselors is the height to stupid. As described upthread by someone who lives and works (as a bus driver) in the area, the topography makes cell reception iffy anyway. Regardless, what we probably don’t know at this point is whether camp management (i.e., the counselors’ bosses) were carrying cell phones, and what _other_ precautions, such as NOAA weather radios, camp management had (or didn’t have), to ensure that they were receiving weather updates and warnings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massive-flooding-in-texas-20-children-missing-from-a-summer-camp/1020512.md?page=8)