– It is hard for us, but it is definitely better today than yesterday. We are arranged in hotels and for now we are resting here – Marcelina Pryga told PAP, who was one of 24 participants of Camp America's cultural exchange from Poland. Poles are currently in hotels in Texas. PAP talked with two of them on Saturday evening of the Eastern American time (in the morning on Sunday in Poland).
According to the latest information, as a result of a instant flood that hit the central Texas, at least 51 people were killed. In Kerr, the cataclysm deprived the lives of 43 people, including 15 children; In neighboring regions, the element consumed more victims. 27 children who were at the camp are wanted. Families confirmed CNN television that four girls participating in Camp Mystic were killed.
“It was like a bad dream”
– The day itself looked quite normal. Part of our Polish team was free on that day. They went on a trip to Austin and in the way back a car broke, so I was asked by my superiors to go to them. It was about 10pm – Olaf Sokal told PAP.
– On the way back, it started raining specifically. When we got to Kerrville, a city about half an hour from the camp, there was a wall of rain that we were driving an hour or even longer, because there was nothing to be seen on the route – he continued.
– We arrived at Camp around two o'clock at night. Everything looked then, say, normally, because such rains have often happened there, there was a lot of water – he added.
After about 30-40 minutes, power outages began to appear, and there was no Wi-Fi network. – We slept with the girls during all this. We only got up at six o'clock, when it was all over. And we didn't just believe what happened there. It was like a bad dream – Marcelina emphasized.
“I couldn't sleep because it was very loud, the rain was falling hard, lightning hit the area every now and then,” Olaf reported.
Nothing happened to Poles
When the reach of three o'clock at night appeared at a moment, Olaf saw that part of Poland from Poland began to write in group chat about a large amount of water in the center. “I knew it began to get seriously when they started writing that they felt the smell of burning,” he added. – We went out to see what was going on. And around us there was simply a huge and strong river, which was about 15 meters wide – he said.
At night, the children participating in the camp began to wake up because of a raging storm. Their evacuation began. -When we walked with the staff about seven-year-old and searched all the houses, there was a storm. Helicopters have tried to fly to us from around five o'clock in the morning, while the weather conditions did not allow them to do so in any way-emphasized Olaf.
According to him, the first helicopter appeared on the spot before 9 o'clock. During the day, children from the center were evacuated with their help. He added that rescuers could only reach the camp by road transport only in the early afternoon, because before the road was impassable.
– We left the resort only today, about three hours ago. We are participants of the Camp America program and we have been waiting for further instructions from them: what to do, where to go. We spent last night on Camp, on the dining room on the hill. We had access to food there and we all slept there as Polish staff. Today we received information that someone from the Camp America office is to come after us – said Marcelina. She assured that none out of 24 Poles present at the camp.
As Olaf explained, there were wooden and partly brick houses in Camp Mystic. – Some of them were closed to the roof. A large part of the center is destroyed – he added.
Olaf, who came to the camp for the third time, emphasized that many people are still wanted. He noted that he learned from the center's owners that their father, and also the director of the Dick Eastland camp, was killed by saving children. He got into the car and went to evacuate the children and at that moment the water rose to such a level that he just kidnapped him. He was found around 5pm on Friday. He gave his life for others – Olaf told PAP.
The camp was near the Guadalupe River, which on Friday left the banks due to heavy rainfall. About 750 people stayed at Camp Mystic.
