Poles were at a camp in Texas. They tell terrible stories. "He gave his life for others"

This tragedy occurred on Friday, July 4, at Camp Mystic in Texas. As a result of the flash flood that hit the state, at least 51 people died. There were also Polish citizens there. In total, 24 people. They were participants of the Camp America cultural exchange from Poland. The Poles are safe and sound. They left the center on Saturday and were settled in hotels.

— Marcelina told PAP, who was one of 24 participants of the Camp America cultural exchange from Poland.

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The Poles are currently staying in hotels in Texas. According to the latest information, at least 51 people died as a result of the flash flood that hit central Texas. In Kerr County, the disaster killed 43 people, including 15 children; in neighboring regions, the disaster claimed more victims. 27 children who were at the camp are still missing. Families confirmed to CNN that four girls who attended Camp Mystic died.

— The day itself, Thursday, 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. — says one of the Poles, Olaf Sokal.

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— On the way back it started raining heavily. When we got to Kerrville, a town about half an hour away from the camp, there was such a wall of rain that we drove for an hour or even longer because we couldn't see anything on the road. We got to the camp 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 adds.

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

— Marcelina told PAP.

— I couldn't sleep because it was very loud, it was raining heavily, and lightning was striking every now and then in the area — Olaf Sokal reported.

When coverage briefly returned around 3 a.m., Olaf saw some of the staff from Poland start writing in the group chat about the large amounts of water accumulating at the resort.

— said the Pole.

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

— When we went around 7-8 a.m. 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 — says the young Pole.

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.

— Marcelina told PAP. She assured that none of the 24 Poles present at the camp were hurt.

As Olaf explained, Camp Mystic had wooden and partially brick cabins. He said that some of them were flooded up to the roof. A large part of the facility is destroyed.

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.

— says our compatriot.

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

(Source: PAP)

Poles were at a camp in Texas during the flood. They tell terrible stories. Fortunately, none of our countrymen died.

Poles were at a camp in Texas during the flood. They tell terrible stories. Fortunately, none of our countrymen died.