Stuffed animals, a lunchbox, a pink blanket.
Those were among the belongings left behind after a raging torrent from Texas’s Guadalupe River overwhelmed a cabin that was occupied by 8- and 9-year-old campers.
The Bubble Inn bunkhouse hosted the youngest kids at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp caught in the deadly July 4 flooding in the state’s Hill Country.
Michael McCown, father of Linnie McCown, 8, looks through debris inside of the Bubble Inn cabin at Camp Mystic AFP via Getty ImagesAll 14 campers and two teenage counselors in the cabin were either killed or lost.
The cabins for the youngest kids had been in the lowlands, near the river and another creek.
Staff have recalled the frantic effort to evacuate the girls, hoisting them through cabin windows and carrying them, barefoot and shivering, as the water gushed in from two sides.
“It made like a swirl right around those cabins like a toilet bowl,” one camp employee told the Washington Post.
But major questions remain surrounding the camp’s emergency plan and whether staff were warned too late about the anticipated flooding.
Beds, furniture, and personal belongings were scattered outside flooded cabins at Camp Mystic on Monday, July 7. Anadolu via Getty Images
An aerial view of Camp Mystic in Texas shows a flood map and the locations of buildings. Falon Wriede / NY Post DesignIn total, 27 people died at Camp Mystic, including the camp’s owner, who worked through the night trying to rescue the youngsters.
He was found with the bodies of three girls near his SUV and died on the way to the hospital.
But for Michael McCown, matters of “how” and “when” were meaningless.
Follow The Post’s coverage on the deadly Texas flooding
- Camp Mystic survivors heard screams in the dark as floodwaters hit hours earlier than previously thought
- Camp Mystic co-owner waited 45 minutes to evacuate campers after getting urgent ‘life-threatening’ flash floods alert
- Texas flood volunteers ordered to evacuate as heavy rainfall expected to strike devastated region
- Texas family mourns 8-year-old daughter confirmed dead in Camp Mystic flood disaster
For him, the only question was whether his daughter was alive.
McCown’s girl, 8-year-old Linnie, had been among those missing from Bubble Inn, and when the waters receded, her dad combed the debris-littered grounds and riverbanks for his little girl.
Debris and flood damage at Camp Mystic. Getty Images
A sign for the Bubble Inn, where 14 campers and two counselors were either killed or lost. AFP via Getty Images
Michael McCown searches for the belongings of his daughter Linnie. AFP via Getty Images“She’s out there somewhere with all her friends,” a dazed McCown told the Washington Post from the scene. “She was the sweetest little thing.”
Searchers would eventually find Linnie’s body, and all but two of the Bubble Inn victims have been recovered.
A camper and a counselor remain missing.
Eight-year-old Linnie McCown, a Bubble Inn camper, perished in the flood.
In total, three children and a counselor from Camp Mystic are unaccounted for.
Michael McCown later remembered his daughter in a social media post.
“She filled our hearts with so much joy we cannot begin to explain. We are going to miss her so very much, but know she’s up there shining bright,” he said.
