The search continues for missing Texans.
As the death toll from the tragic flooding of the Guadalupe River on July 4 has surpassed 100, among those missing are the two sons of John Burgess and Julia Burgess, according to KTWX.
The family was camping in an RV along the shore of the lake in the Texas Hill Country, while their daughter, the only confirmed member alive, was at a nearby camp that was not impacted by the flooding. John and Julia had died in the flash floods, Julia’s cousin Michael Schwab confirmed on social media.
Lorena Guillen—the owner of the Blue Oak RV Park in Kerr County, where the Burgess family was camping—recalled seeing John try to escape the rising water with his sons.
“The rescue team was here and they were trying to do their best to get the people out because their RV vehicle was getting swept away,” she told MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera on July 7. “My husband was in the water trying to get the babies. He was yelling at the man, ‘Please throw me your babies.’ And it was too late.”
“A wave came in and they got swept away,” she continued. “We could hear the screaming. It was absolutely crazy … That family that got swept away was clinging to a tree trying to survive.”
Lorena emphasized her shock at the sudden weather shift, since July 3 had been “the most perfect day there was.”
Although the rain woke her up at around 2:30 a.m. on the Fourth of July, she said that “the waters looked fine” when she drove down to the edge of the river to check the grounds. She went back to sleep, but by 3:30 a.m., everything changed. She added, “I saw the rescue lights because one of my residents heard the people screaming.”
Lorena noted that most of the evacuations at her campground were successful, but all 28 RVs had been washed away.
John wasn’t the only father hailed as a hero for trying to rescue his family as the river’s water rose as much as 25 feet in less than an hour. Julian Ryan died after punching a window and cutting his arm as his house began to flood.
“It just started pouring in and we had to fight the door to get it closed to make sure not too much got in,” his fiancée Christina Wilson told KHOU. “It severed his artery in his arm and almost cut it clean off.”
She recalled his final message to her after Julian was able to get them out safely: “I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all.”
Christina’s mom Pamela Baker commended his brave actions, telling People in a statement, “When the time came, he made the ultimate sacrifice to save what was most important to him, his family.”
For more reflections on the tragic Texas floods, keep reading.
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Jenna Bush Hager
The Jenna & Friends host shared that her mom, former First Lady Laura Bush, was a drama counselor at Camp Mystic, where at least 27 girls and counselors died, as of July 7, following the devastating flooding on the Guadalupe River.
“My mom was a counselor there, but also so many of my friends were raised at this camp,” Jenna said on Today, July 7. “Texas camps are institutions, as you just heard, where many family members—generations—this camp was 100 years old. Grandmothers, mothers, kids have all gone there.”
Jenna, who shared that many of her friends and their kids were there last week, praised the community for coming together amid the tragedy.
“The stories that I heard over the last couple days were beautiful and heartbreaking,” she said. “Texas has a type of resilience where they’re generous people, where people want to reach out and help.”
“Texas camps are really special because you’re thinking about 90-degree weather, no air conditioning,” the 43-year-old—who attended the nearby Camp Longhorn during her childhood—explained. “My kids are at camp in Texas, and my husband said, ‘Why are we sending our kids to Texas, to camp? It’s hot!’ And it’s because of the love that’s there.”
Jennifer Garner
The 13 Going on 30 star—who was born in Houston—expressed her condolences in a July 6 Instagram Stories, writing with a red heart emoji, “Texas, God, be near.”
Matthew McConaughey and Camila McConaughey
The Interstellar actor and his wife called on others to “lend a helping hand” amid this difficult chapter.
“At least 70 lives have been lost, many more are unaccounted for, and countless Texans are hurting – inside and out,” their joint July 6 Instagram statement read. “It’s gonna be a long road ahead, but right now the shock, the pain, and the chaos need the steady hand of a neighbor.”
The University of Texas at Austin professor and the model concluded, “Texans are some of the most resilient and generous people on the planet.”
Hilary Duff
The Lizzie McGuire alum shared her grief amid the tragic flooding, writing on Instagram on July 6 that “heartbroken doesn’t begin to cover” her feelings.
“Consumed,” she explained, “Obsessed. Praying for even a shred of a miracle—to find a child alive in the wake of this boundless disaster. Tears fall every time I imagine one of these families receiving bad news… waiting… or entire families lost. Just gone. It’s too much to comprehend.”
“Beautiful Texas, I love you,” she continued. “To all the boots on the ground—I love you. To those facing tremendous, impossible loss—we are looking at their beautiful faces, embossing them in our minds.”
Hilary, who also attended nearby Camp Longhorn growing up, emphasized how the experience at camp “imprints on your soul.”
“I was—and forever will be—that girl with a wild-hearted, fierce love for my barefoot summers at camp in the Texas Hill country,” she wrote. “It changes your identity. It’s a realm of true magic. You could never imagine an ending this tragic. I’m just so deeply, absolutely sorry. Your loss is felt across the world.”
Shakira
The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer shared on X (formerly Twitter) on July 5 that she would be donating a portion of the proceeds from her San Antonio concert to Catholic Charities of San Antonio, which is providing disaster relief to families impacted.
Khloe Kardashian
The Kardashians star expressed her sympathy to those affected by the flash flood, noting that her heart “is so deeply aching for every parent, every family member, and every community.”
“I can’t stop thinking about the families in Texas and the overwhelming pain they’re going through right now,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories on July 6. “As a mother, this kind of tragedy hits in a place words can’t reach. The loss of those sweet, innocent children is something I can’t fully process. There are just no words for this.”
Kris Jenner
The Kardashian-Jenner matriarch shared that she was struggling to come to terms with the destructive aftermath of the natural disaster.
“My heart is absolutely shattered by the devastating floods in Texas and the unimaginable loss of those precious children,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories. “It’s a tragedy that’s impossible to comprehend and heartbreaking beyond measure.”
“Life is so fragile, and at times unbearably unfair,” she continued. “To the families living this nightmare, we are holding you in our hearts, praying for strength, and grieving alongside you.”
Christy Carlson Romano
The Even Stevens alum revealed that she and her husband, Brendan Rooney, considered sending their 7-year-old daughter, Isabella, to Camp Mystic.
She added in her July 6 Instagram Stories, “A lot of people I know send their kids there and a few of them don’t know where their kids are or they were just recently reunited with them.”
Mandy Moore
The This Is Us actress shared a video of the missing girls from Camp Mystic on her Instagram Stories July 6, writing, “Thinking of everyone affected by the horrific flooding in Texas..keeping these families in my heart. Unfathomable.
Maria Shriver
The journalist shared that her prayers are with the families in Texas, emphasizing on Instagram July 6, “Right now they need us all to hold them in a circle of love.”
“Let’s unite to hold them, pray for them,” she said of the Camp Mystic attendees and counselors. “As a parent myself, my heart is with absolutely everyone who is feeling this loss.”
