The disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 29 feet.

Onlookers survey damage along the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area. Source: AAP / Eric Gay/AP

“We know that the rivers rise, but nobody saw this coming,” said Kerr County judge Rob Kelly, the top local official in the region.

Patrick reported that Camp Mystic had housed 700 girls when the flood occurred. Meanwhile, Heart O’ the Hills, another girls’ camp, mentioned on its website that co-owner Jane Ragsdale had tragically lost her life in the flood. Fortunately, there were no campers at Heart O’ the Hills as it was the gap between sessions.

The Camp Mystic Christian summer campsite was completely destroyed. Source: AP / Julio Cortez

Videos posted online showed bare concrete platforms where homes used to stand and piles of rubble along the banks of the river. Rescuers plucked residents from rooftops and trees, sometimes forming human chains to fetch people from the floodwater, local media reported.