The emergency weather alert had come early Fourth of July morning: There would be life-threatening flash flooding in Kerr County, Texas. And Camp Mystic – an all-girls Christian camp situated along the Guadalupe River – housed about 750 campers on the flood-prone site as heavy rains started pouring.

Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map, as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain.

Camp Mystic camper Blakely McCrory, 8, died in the Texas floods on the Fourth of July shortly after her dad and uncle died. Her mom, Lindsey McLeod McCrory, tells PEOPLE about Blakely's 'contagious spirit' and one of the final letters she received from her.

Days after floodwaters swept through Camp Mystic and other parts of Central Texas, rescuers recovered the body of camper, Virginia Hollis.

In a week dominated by talk of the upcoming college football season, Texas safety Michael Taaffe brought something different to SEC Media Days in Atlanta: perspective. Wearing a burnt orange tie stitched with the initials of the 27 victims at Camp Mystic,

When Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls nestled in Texas Hill Country, experienced catastrophic flooding on July 4, Executive Director Richard “Dick” Eastland worked as quickly as he could to get his campers to safety.

When a reporter asked Texas Governor Greg Abbott who is to blame for the deaths of more than 100 people in this month’s catastrophic Guadalupe River flooding, Abbott scoffed. Wh

Bubble Inn saw generations of 8-year-olds enter as strangers and emerge as confident young ladies equipped with new skills from the great outdoors and lifelong friends – bonds that would one day prove vital in the face of unfathomable tragedy.