KERR COUNTY, Texas – A camp director was among the people killed after floodwaters swept through the Texas Hill Country on Friday.
Jane Ragsdale, director of Heart O’ the Hills camp, was killed in the floods, according to a statement from the camp.
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At least 59 people have died due to flooding in the Hill Country, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Sunday morning.
The Heart O’ the Hills camp is located on the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas. The camp was in between sessions when the flooding occurred, and no campers were in residence, the statement said.
The camp website describes Ragsdale as “the heart and soul of Heart O’ the Hills.”
Ragsdale, who has co-owned the all-girls camp since 1976, started as a camper and counselor and became camp director in 1988, according to the website.
“We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened by Jane’s death,” the statement said. “She embodied the spirit of Heart O’ the Hills and was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop with the girls entrusted to us each summer.”
The extent of damage to camp facilities is still being determined, according to the statement, but is “serious.”
The camp said it will not open for its next session, which was scheduled to start on Sunday, July 6. Orders placed at its store are also unable to be fulfilled.
“At the moment, we’re all struggling personally to deal with our loss, but we will do our best to keep you informed in the days to come,” the statement said.
Between 10 and 12 inches of rain fell in Kerr County in the July 4 floods. Of the 59 killed, Leitha said 21 are children.
More than 850 people have been rescued from the area so far, Leitha said. Several others are still presumed missing, including 11 girls from Camp Mystic, another girls-only camp on the Guadalupe River.
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