San Diego children among survivors of Texas floods

The Texas National Guard assists flooding casualties in Houston Photo courtesy of the National Guard Newest catastrophic flooding in Texas s Hill Country has left dozens dead and hundreds still missing On Friday morning the Guadalupe River began to surge due to heavy rains estimated to have risen roughly feet in a matter of hours According to Kerr County the river crested at feet or more surpassing the county s second biggest flood in Multiple youth camps line the Guadalupe River near Kerrville Texas A longstanding point of debate has been the camps proximity to the river especially when it is prone to flash floods Attending one of those camps was San Diego boy Kaelan Kubena who is years old Kubena was one of two boys from the San Diego area who made it out of the flooding safely He has since been reunited with his family We looked outside and we just saw like an ocean out there It was like wholly destroying everything he mentioned in an interview with NBC A nearby all-girls Christian camp Camp Mystic was hit the hardest reportedly losing campers and counselors to the flood waters Camp Mystic was only several miles north of Camp La Junta the camp Kubena was attending when the flood hit The search for missing people is still ongoing though the hopes of those with missing loved ones are dwindling as search-and-rescue efforts hit the four-day mark Kubena explained how the flood hit unexpectedly on Friday morning He recounted being guided by counselors to a higher elevation in the early hours of July Upon reaching a safer higher spot Kubena reported he and fellow campers watched the floodwaters and its contents roll by We saw like a whole cabin just floating down and that s when we knew things were getting in fact real out there Like we were starting to realize that this was a real natural catastrophe predicament Kubena stated The heavy rain began late July and continued into the early hours of the Independence Day holiday Kerr County of Central Texas where Kubena s camp was located declared a state of exigency on July Kubena recalls the counselors rushing into the cabin around a m directing the boys to evacuate The state of exigency declaration encouraged residents to shelter in place with the exception of those near creeks streams or the Guadalupe River In those cases residents were directed to seek higher ground just like Kubena and his campmates did Heavy rains are expected to continue throughout Central Texas further damaging already vulnerable communities