Texas, Camp Mystic and flash flood
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Texas, rescue and flash flood
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Eight-year-old girls at sleep-away camp, families crammed into recreational vehicles, local residents traveling to or from work. These are some of the victims.
The state leaves building zoning and permits up to the individual counties. And in most non-city counties, such as Kerr, which had 96 deaths as of Thursday due to floods, some officials tend to be lenient towards building owners with restrictions, some state leaders and environmental experts told ABC News.
At least 120 people have been found dead since heavy rainfall overwhelmed the river and flowed through homes and youth camps in the early morning hours of July 4. Ninety-six of those killed were in the hardest-hit county in central Texas, Kerr County, where the toll includes at least 36 children.
Renee Smajstrla, a 8-year-old straight-A student from Ingram, Texas, who had played a role in her school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz,” was one of the victims who died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, her family said.
Safety and weather protocols are top of mind for parents and summer camp leaders following a deadly flood that overwhelmed Central Texas.
Just two days before devastating floods claimed at least 27 lives at Camp Mystic, the Texas Department of State Health Services signed off on the youth camp's emergency plans, according to records obtained by ABC News.
The Associated Press has assembled an approximate timeline of the 48 hours before, during and after the deadly flash flood, beginning with the activation of the state’s emergency response resources on July 2 — the same day Texas signed off on the camp’s emergency plan for disasters.
Scott Ruskan helped save over 200 lives in the deadly flooding in Central Texas over the July 4th weekend. He's a former collegiate athlete and "team first guy."