“They’re leaders” said one mom whose son attended Camp La Junta
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- About 400 campers and counselors from Camp La Junta in Hunt, Texas, were safely evacuated during the flooding disaster
- Parents of boys who attended the camp hailed the bravery of the counselors
- “If it hadn’t of been for them, it would have been a very different scenario with our boys,” said one grateful mom
Parents are praising counselors for saving hundreds of lives as Texas floodwaters inundated Camp La Junta, which is located just miles away from Camp Mystic, where at least 27 campers and counselors died.
Tucker Hope, 13, said that when he woke up early in the morning on Friday, July 4, there was water all around his cabin, NBC affiliate KXAS reported.
Counselors urged him and other campers to get their belongings and move to the second story. “I heard Cabin 15 right next to us — their counselors were shouting at them — ‘Get your shoes on, we have to leave,’ ” Tucker told the outlet.
Keli Rabon — the mom of fellow cambers Braeden Davis, 9, and his brother, Brock Davis, 7 — previously told PEOPLE that Brock was as in his cabin with about 11 other boys and two counselors when the water came in. He had to climb up the bunk bed to the rafters to escape the rushing water.
“He made it out with just the shorts on his body,” said Rabon, a 40-year-old content creator. He still doesn’t recall how he was removed from the flooded building. “He didn’t have a shirt on. He didn’t have socks or shoes on.”
ABC affiliate KSAT posted video footage of a cabin housing Camp La Junta counselors floating in the Guadalupe River. According to the outlet, the cabin continued floating until a tree stopped its path. Fortunately, the counselors were uninjured.
Eventually, about 400 Camp La Junta campers and counselors were all safely accounted for, USA Today reported, thanks to staffers who brought the kids into cabins up in the hill and away from the floodwaters.
“They’re leaders,” Lindsay Pope, Tucker’s mother, told KXAS about the camp’s counselors. “The boys look up to them. The greatest part is that [Tucker] didn’t feel that nervous.”
Speaking with USA Today, the mom of another camper also praised the counselors. “If it hadn’t of been for them, it would have been a very different scenario with our boys,” said Georgie Brown, mom of 11-year-old son Beau. “They didn’t have anyone telling them what to do, they just did it and saved a lot of our boys.”
According to its website, Camp La Junta’s story goes back to 1928 “with four campers and a program for camping excellence which has continued to date. Third generation campers are now enjoying La Junta for themselves, discovering their capabilities and growing in confidence as young men.”
PEOPLE contacted Camp La Junta for comment on Wednesday, July 9.
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In a separate interview with CBS Mornings, Rabon spoke about her relief at being reunited with her sons, but said that it’s bittersweet, knowing so many other families haven’t been as fortunate.
“It’s almost like you have this sense of survivor’s guilt because you feel so much joy to see your children, but you still know that so many people are hurting and desperately looking for theirs,” Rabon said.
As of Wednesday, July 9, at least 119 people have died and 173 remain missing, according to The New York Times.
To learn how to help support the victims and recovery efforts from the Texas floods, click here.
