Daijiworld Media Network – Texas

Texas, Jul 7: As floodwaters from the overflowing Guadalupe River wreaked havoc in central Texas, a desperate text from a young woman named Joyce Bandon may have marked her final moments.

Bandon, along with three friends, had gone to a riverside house to celebrate the July 4 holiday. Torrential rains on Thursday night caused the river to surge dramatically, reaching the height of a two-story building within an hour and flooding large parts of Kerr County.

At around 4 am on Friday, their house collapsed. “The last message her family received was ‘we’re being washed away,’ and then the phone went dead,” said Louis Deppe, leading a volunteer team helping the Bandon family.

As of Sunday afternoon, at least 78 people have been confirmed dead, with many still missing. Several children's camps were also affected, including Camp Mystic in the town of Hunt, where 11 children and a counselor remain unaccounted for.

Volunteers and emergency workers continue to search the wreckage. Helicopters hover overhead, while boats comb the river. The grim aftermath includes overturned vehicles, debris-laden trees, and decaying fish scattered across the mud.

“Some of the bodies were found up in trees,” said Deppe. “It’s heart-wrenching, but we’re doing all we can.”

Tina Hambly, mother of one of Bandon’s friends, joins other volunteers using a kayak oar to search through a seven-mile stretch along the river.

Justin Morales, part of the search team, confirmed that one of the bodies recovered was a Camp Mystic girl. “We’re here to bring closure to the families. That’s why we keep searching,” he said.