LATEST ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TEXAS: Senior Cliff Richard, even though he is over 80, still tries to comfort the victims of the terrible flood whether he is there or not. Cliff accidentally caught a moment filled with tears…

Texas Mom Recalls How Camp Mystic Counselors Saved Her Daughters During Deadly Flood

Kerr County, TX — As the deadly floods surged through Camp Mystic in the early hours of July 4, claiming dozens of lives, one Texas mother says she will forever be grateful to the heroic counselors who saved her three young daughters from rising waters.

Lisa Miller, a former camper and counselor at Camp Mystic, was thousands of miles away — on a beach in France celebrating her anniversary — when she first learned of flooding back home. At first, she wasn’t alarmed. As a veteran of the camp, she had seen flooding before. “It’s usually minor, and they have protocols,” Miller told PEOPLE. But this time, it wasn’t.

A message from a friend — alerting her that girls from her youngest daughter’s cabin had been found downriver — made it clear this was no ordinary storm. Shortly after, she learned from camp director Mary Liz Eastland that her three daughters, Eliza, 14, Genevieve, 12, and Birdie, 9, were safe — though dozens of others, including an entire cabin, were still missing.

The girls’ grandfather and camp owner, Richard “Dick” Eastland, was later confirmed among the victims. He had died while helping evacuate campers to safety.Each of Miller’s daughters had a different experience that night. Eliza’s cabin sat at the camp’s highest point, isolated on “Senior Hill.” She and her bunkmates rode out the storm thinking it was merely a dramatic, rainy night — unaware of the devastation unfolding below.

Genevieve, however, was in one of the lowest cabins. At 2 a.m., a counselor ran to alert the staff that their cabin was flooding. Camp leaders, including Eastland, evacuated girls to the Rec Hall, then quickly to a second-floor balcony as water rose around them. “The counselors kept them calm with songs and prayers,” Miller said.

Birdie, the youngest, awoke around 2:30 a.m. and soon realized something was wrong. Her counselors instructed the girls to stay on their beds, but the water outside made the door impossible to open. A counselor smashed a window, and one by one, the girls were passed through — including Birdie, who was hoisted onto a counselor’s back after standing in shoulder-high water.All three girls were later evacuated by Black Hawk helicopter and reunited with their grandparents.

“I am still reeling,” Miller said. “We are heartbroken over the loss of so many little girls and their families. But I am so grateful to the counselors who stayed calm and acted bravely.”She added, “They saved my daughters’ lives. We will never know how to repay them.”

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