Former President Bush issued a statement on Sunday expressing his sorrow over the loss of life in the dangerous flooding that affected his home state of Texas.
“On this day of prayer, Laura and I are holding up our fellow Texans who are hurting,” Bush wrote in a statement.
“We are heartbroken by the loss of life and the agony so many are feeling,” he continued. “Those who have lost their precious children are facing a grief no parents should ever know.”
As of Sunday afternoon, at least 70 people had been confirmed dead in central Texas, where search and rescue operations continued to scour the area hit the hardest by Friday’s floods.
Kerr County, where Camp Mystic and other summer camps are located, confirmed 59 deaths, including 38 adults and 21 children, the sheriff’s office said Sunday morning. Eleven people from other counties were confirmed dead, The Associated Press reported.
The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office stated that, as of Sunday morning, 11 campers from Camp Mystic and one counselor were still unaccounted for.
“We are grateful to the first responders and volunteers who are working to find the missing and comfort the grieving at Camp Mystic and along the Guadalupe. We know our words cannot help, but we believe the prayers of so many Americans will,” Bush’s statement added.
The camp has been the go-to summer camp for the daughters of Texans, also known as “Mystic girls,” for nearly a century, especially among the state’s political elite, according to the Texas Tribune.
Former First Lady Laura Bush was once a counselor at the camp, where former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters also attended.
Rep. August Pfluger’s (R-Texas) daughters and Rep. Buddy Carter’s (R-Ga.) granddaughters were at the camp during the flooding, but they both confirmed their family members were safe. Carter said his granddaughter’s cousin, Janie, died from the floods.
