‘Like a Movie’: These 19-Year-Old Mexican Teens Saved 20 Girls During the Texas Flooding

As a deadly flash flood swept through Hill Country, Texas, two 19-year-old Mexican women didn’t panic. They organized. Silvana Garza Valdez and María Paula Zárate were working as counselors at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer retreat in Kerr County, when the river surged unexpectedly in the early morning hours of July 5. According to Diario El Mundo, the two acted quickly, guiding 20 young girls to higher ground while the water rose around them.

What followed was a terrifying night of thunder, power outages, and uncertain survival. The teens stayed calm, kept the girls safe, and left a mark on one of the most tragic moments in recent Texas history.

How the Texas flooding turned a summer camp into a disaster zone

According to San Diego Red, the flash flood was caused by intense rainfall that raised the Guadalupe River by 26 feet in just 45 minutes. The storm struck while more than 750 people were asleep at Camp Mystic. The rising waters swept away cabins and belongings.

Infobae reported that more than 50 people have died across Texas, including several children. Dozens remain missing. The Associated Press confirmed that 27 of the missing were girls from Camp Mystic, where Silvana and María Paula were stationed.

At 1:00 a.m., heavy rain started pounding the camp. By 3:00 a.m., the power went out, cutting off electricity and ventilation in the cabins. Silvana told Foro TV, “The windows rattled with thunder, and the lightning was very bright; it was like a movie; I had never seen anything like it.”

Silvana and María Paula wrote names on the girls’ arms to identify them in case of tragedy

Faced with a real emergency and no communication from authorities, the counselors stepped up. According to La Vanguardia México, they gathered the girls, guided them to safer cabins, and wrote each child’s name on her arm. They also gave them name tags.

“We write their names on their arms so we can identify them in case of a tragedy,” they said in an interview with Foro TV. They did the same with their own names.

Before nightfall, María Paula recalled, “We thought they were going to evacuate us, so we started writing our names on our skin. We put their ID tags on them. We told them to pack a suitcase with their belongings.”

Inside the chaos: what the girls experienced during the Texas flooding

Throughout the night, the counselors kept the girls calm with prayers and games. Zócalo reported that they did not sleep as lightning shook the windows and the river swallowed nearby structures.

They waited in the dark for hours. Silvana described the storm as “like something out of a movie.” It wasn’t until late the next afternoon, around 6:00 p.m., that military rescue vehicles arrived.

Even after their rescue, Silvana and María Paula stayed with the girls until they were transferred to another camp. It was only then that they learned Camp Mystic had been declared a total loss.

“Gracias a Dios estábamos bien”: The aftermath

Speaking to Infobae, Silvana expressed both grief and gratitude. “Thank God we were fine, and most of them were rescued. Obviously, we were going to pray for those who were missing.”

The most recent count from AP says that at least 43 people have died in Kerr County alone, and 27 girls remain unaccounted for.

According to Animal Político, María Paula admitted the reality didn’t hit her until they were on a military truck evacuating the site. “I thought I was in a dream; I didn’t believe it was real. I never understood the gravity of the situation until we got into the army trucks.”

Texas flooding response under scrutiny

As the scale of the devastation became clear, questions emerged about whether the disaster could have been prevented. The Associated Press reported that warnings from the National Weather Service were issued as early as Thursday afternoon, predicting five to seven inches of rain.

By early Friday, the warnings escalated to flash flood emergencies. However, according to local officials quoted by AP, evacuation orders were not issued in time. “Nobody saw this coming,” said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly.

Residents and camp leaders were left to fend for themselves in the hours before rescue. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy told AP there would be “a lot of second-guessing.”