In the wake of the devastating flash floods in central Texas, one reporter found herself caught between past and present on Sunday when she returned to a place she once loved.
CNN’s Pamela Brown was a camper at Camp Mystic when she was 10-years-old, an experience that she described on-air on Sunday while reporting on the floods that washed away at least 27 campers and left 11 still missing. At least 82 people are estimated to have died in total.
“It’s surreal coming back here,” Brown told anchor Erica Hill as she reported from the camp’s ruined grounds. “I’m overwhelmed with emotion and I’m overwhelmed with memories.”
Brown, who is CNN’s chief investigative correspondent and co-hosts The Situation Room, reminisced about the memories she made along the Guadalupe River.
“I can’t get over looking at those cabins right next to the Guadalupe River,” she said. “That river was the source of so much fun and joy for us. We would spend hours and hours in that river.”
Now, public scrutiny has focused on how the Guadalupe River rose so significantly (an estimated 26 feet in just 45 minutes) and why camp officials weren’t notified sooner to evacuate.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said on Saturday that “nobody saw this coming,” while other local officials referred to the flooding as a “100-year flood.” A New York Times investigation found that the county considered installing a more robust flood-warning system as recently as May.
For Brown, reporting on the floods conflicted with cherished memories. “That is where we would spend so much of our time at camp, and to think that that same river is the source of this devastation, it’s just hard to wrap my head around.”
“So much innocence has been lost,” Brown added.
On her Instagram page, Brown posted that it was “unbelievable to be covering this tragedy.” “Hoping we can shine a light on those who have been lost here and the ones who are still missing,” she wrote.
Other alumni and supporters of Camp Mystic also spoke out over the July 4 weekend, including Jenna Bush Hager—whose mother, former first lady Laura Bush, was a counselor there. The camp was founded in 1928.
“Texas camps are institutions,” Bush Hager said. “Grandmothers, mothers, kids have all gone there.”
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