HUNT, Texas – The memories of going away to summer camp typically last a lifetime. For brothers Piers and Ruffin Boyett, their memories at Camp La Junta, located on State Highway 39 in Hunt, Texas, will carry a new meaning.
The brothers said it was difficult for them to sleep overnight.
“I couldn’t sleep because of the lightning,” Ruffin Boyett said.
“People were screaming that there was a flood,” Piers Boyett said. “There was a lot of water.”
Ruffin said he was the first one awake in his cabin at approximately 4 a.m. Friday. Another camper woke up their counselor, which in turn, woke up the rest of the campers in the cabin.
With their eyes now open, they suddenly realized the dangerous situation they were in.
“Oh my God, we’re floating,” Ruffin Boyett said.
The campers had to make a quick decision.
“The flood started getting bigger,” Piers Boyett said. “We have bunk beds in our cabin, and it (the water) was going to the top bunk. We had one choice, and we had to swim out of our cabins.”
The campers, including the Boyett brothers, swam to safety. They went to another cabin on higher ground before they were put on a bus and driven away from the Guadalupe River.
The swollen river and heavy rain are believed to be responsible for at least 43 deaths, according to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha.
The brothers maintained a mature perspective on their Fourth of July experience.
“Some cabins, like, flooded,” Piers Boyett said. “It flooded away, but nobody died (at the camp).”
“No one died,” Ruffin Boyett said. “We are thankful for that.”
More related coverage of the July 4 floods on KSAT: