Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R) choked back emotion as he discussed the flooding in central Texas that has led to at least 27 deaths while dozens remain missing.
Patrick, who was acting governor when the flooding first occurred, joined Fox News on Saturday where he said recovery efforts are underway to find a group of at least 20 girls attending Camp Mystic summer camp, which was one of the areas hit by flash flooding. According to the latest numbers, 18 adults have died, as well as nine children, including one from the Christian summer camp in Kerr County. The missing girls are between eight and nine years old.
Multiple points in Texas were hit early on Saturday with major flooding and heavy rain. Authorities said more than 800 people have been rescued this far. Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) declared a state of emergency in 15 counties hit by flooding.
“Camp Mystic is kind of split into two sections and the one section where the where the younger children were is where most of those missing persons came from in that area. I’ve got eight grandkids,” Patrick told Fox News. “I’ve been up all night, I’ve been up two nights actually. I couldn’t sleep last night, the heartbreak. Governor Abbott and I were there to about, I guess, I don’t know, 10 or 11 o’clock at night, I can’t remember, but we
He added that he is leaning on his faith as he and others see thing tragedies they won’t soon forget.
Patrick said:
I was flying back last night and one of the young men sitting next to me on the plane was one of divers and I had asked him, I said, how many were you able to rescue today? And that was yesterday and we had rescued or they had rescued hundreds yesterday, probably over 300, I don’t know the exact count. He was one who had to go down, and the person he rescued was already deceased who was eight years old. That will be with him forever. And so what makes this — the additional tragedy is usually when there’s a disaster, you know pretty quickly about the outcome of those you love, were they injured, were they harmed, did they lose their life. In this case, they had to wait all day yesterday with lots of hope, and now we’re in the recovery boat. Could we find a miracle and find someone somewhere in a tree somewhere? Pray that we do, but now we are still searching, still rescuing, but [it’s] recovery at this point.
President Donald Trump announced in a Saturday Truth Social post that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi
“The Trump Administration is working with State and Local Officials on the ground in Texas in response to the tragic flooding that took place yesterday. Our Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, will be there shortly. Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!” he wrote.
Watch above via Fox News.