Camp Mystic counselor Laney Owens shared her experience escaping her cabin on social media Thursday, CNN reports.

“In the early morning on July 4th, 2025, the lord reached down to wake my co-counselors, campers, and myself up as water started to puddle on our cabin floor,” Owens said in a now-private post. “We are so blessed to have woken when we did and were able to alert the office staff to start evacuating cabins.”

“The hours to continue are a blur of prayer, singing, and confusion,” she added. Once the sun rose, we began to attempt to navigate what had happened, find our mystic sisters, and pray to find the ones not currently with us.”

Twenty-seven campers and staff died at the all-girls summer camp when the Guadalupe River flooded early Friday. Five girls and one staffer are still missing.

Ariana Baio has the story:

At least 120 people dead and 173 are missing in central Texas, nearly one week after devastating floods thrashed the region.

Julia Musto has the details on how Americans are helping aid flood victims:

People near and far are coming together in Texas to assist with search and rescue missions in the wake of the deadly floods.

Kerrville Police Officer Jonathan Lamb told reporters that one off-duty officer tied a garden hose around his waist while two other officers held the hose and waded into rushing water to save two people.

One man from Colorado has even traveled to Texas to help with the efforts, telling local outlet Fox 26 he was inspired to assist in any way he could after seeing photos of the devastation.

Some are also using innovative methods to help the community recover.

Kourtney Rand, a volunteer in Ingram, Texas, told CNN the local volunteer fire department is using horses to navigate water-logged areas. That’s because they can typically navigate the treacherous terrain better than people can on foot.

NASA has also deployed two aircraft to help map the damage from the floods, while the Texas National Guard is helping the search via land and air.

Texan Brandon Ayers, owner of the restaurant Buddy’s BBQ, is serving free food to local first responders and rescue crews working in the aftermath of the devastating floods.

“No matter what you go through in life, as a state, we all come together,” Ayers told NBC News.

“Everybody wants to work together, everybody wants to help each other…every person we’ve met has been amazing,” he added.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency faced bureaucratic obstacles as staff tried to coordinate a response to the deadly Texas floods, CNN reports, citing four officials.

These officials say Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s new cost-cutting measures are to blame.

Noem has ordered that all grants and contracts over $100,000 require her approval. This has stripped the agency of the autonomy it needs and hinders preparation efforts, one long-time FEMA staffer told CNN.

“We were operating under a clear set of guidance: lean forward, be prepared, anticipate what the state needs, and be ready to deliver it,” the official said. “That is not as clear of an intent for us at the moment.”

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that FEMA is “shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.”

Here are the latest maps of the affected areas:

Thad Hartfield told CNN he is still searching for his 22-year-old son Aiden after he was caught in the devastating floods on Friday.

“I received a call from Aiden at 4 a.m. on the Fourth. He was telling me that there was four inches of water in the house.”

Hartfield told his son to get to the highway — which was higher ground — but the water was too fast and too high, blocking their path.

Another person who was with Aiden said he was hit by debris and swept into the water as he tried to help his friends stabilize themselves, Hartfield told CNN.

“Aiden is a very kind and gentle soul,” Hartfield said. “I know that his spirit is motivating me to continue this search and stay strong.”

State Senator Paul Bettencourt, a Republican, told CNN he’s planning to introduce a bill that would allow Texas officials to install emergency sirens.

“When you got a 28-foot wall of water coming at you in 45 minutes, you’ve got to get a notice,” he told CNN.

Bettencourt added that many local counties need state assistance to make it happen.

“You’ve got 4,000 governments in Texas. It’s a big place. Not everybody has the resources to get it done,” he added.