Flash flood in Texas, death toll rises. Dramatic accounts from Poles

Search and rescue operations are ongoing at the scene. At least 27 people are being sought, including girls who were staying at Camp Mystic in Kerr County. Campers are among the flood deaths.

Texas Flood. More than 20 Poles at Camp Mystic

"I assure you that my partners and I will do everything we can, and we will not rest until we find the last body," Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said.

Camp Mystic had 24 participants from Poland in the Camp America cultural exchange program. All are safe and sound.

The camp was near the Guadalupe River, which overflowed its banks Friday due to heavy rain. About 750 people were staying at Camp Mystic , some of whom were evacuated by helicopters.

Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring said the flash flooding occurred "at night while people were in bed."

USA. Flash flood in Texas. Dramatic account of a Polish woman

The Poles are currently staying in hotels in Texas. - We (with the girls) were sleeping during all of this. We only got up at six o'clock, when it was really over. And we simply couldn't believe what had happened there. It was like a (bad) dream... - said Marcelina Pryga, who was at the flooded Camp Mystic resort.

- It's hard for us, but today is definitely better than yesterday. We are being placed in hotels and for now we are resting here - she said.

- The day itself (Thursday - ed.) looked quite normal. Part of our Polish team had the day off. They went on a trip to Austin and on the way back their car broke down, so I was asked by my superiors to go pick them up. It was around 10 p.m. - said Olaf Sokal.

SEE: Major flood in Texas. The death toll is rising, but the forecasts are not optimistic

- On the way back it started raining heavily. When we got to Kerrville, a town about half an hour from the camp, there was such a wall of rain that we must have been driving for an hour or even longer, because we couldn't see anything on the road - he continued.

- We arrived at the camp at around 2 a.m. Everything looked, let's say, normal then, because such rains had already happened there many times, there was really a lot of water - he added.

After about 30-40 minutes, power outages began to occur and the Wi-Fi network also stopped working.

"There was just a huge and powerful river around us"

When the signal briefly appeared around 3 a.m., Olaf saw some of the staff from Poland start writing in a group chat about the large amount of water accumulating at the resort. "I knew it was getting serious when they started writing that they could smell something burning," he added.

SEE: Great flood - poor compensation. People are desperate

- We went out in front of the house to see what was happening. And around us there was just a huge and strong river , which was about 15 meters wide - he said.

Evacuation action. Many people wanted

At night, the children attending the camp began to wake up due to the raging storm. Their evacuation began.

- When we went around seven or eight o'clock with the staff and searched all the houses, the storm was still going on. Helicopters tried to fly to us (...) from around five or six in the morning, but the weather conditions did not allow them to do so in any way - Olaf emphasized.

According to him, the first helicopter arrived at the site before 9 a.m. During the day, they helped evacuate children from the center . He added that rescuers could only reach the camp by road in the early afternoon because the road had been impassable earlier.

SEE: Los Angeles's tragic tally grows. Volodymyr Zelensky offers help

- We left the center only today, about three hours ago. We are participants of the Camp America program and we were waiting for further instructions from them: what to do, where to go. We spent last night at the camp, in the dining room located on the hill. We had access to food there and we all slept there together as Polish staff. Today we received information that someone from the Camp America office was coming to pick us up - Marcelina said.

She assured that nothing happened to any of the 24 Poles present at the camp.

As Olaf explained, Camp Mystic had wooden and partially brick cabins. - Some of them were flooded to the roof. A large part of the facility is destroyed - he added.

Olaf, who came to the camp for the third time, emphasized that many people are still missing. He noted that he learned from the owners of the center that their father, and director of the camp, Dick Eastland, died saving the children.

Read more