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Nicole44

Burnt Ends
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Everything posted by Nicole44

  1. I always assumed Camp Mystic was “American Camp Association Accredited” but clearly it was not. This story below out of Comfort, Texas is also pretty damn compelling. “Danny Morales, assistant chief of the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department, said that nobody died in Comfort, according to NBC News. The small town home to about 2,300 people in Kendall County, which is about 20 miles away from Kerr County, where the majority of deaths from the flooding disaster occurred and at least 96 have died. People knew that if they heard the siren, they gotta get out,” Morales told NBC News. In a separate interview with the Associated Press, Morales, who has been with the fire department for decades, said that he helped secure funding for the security system last year when the opportunity came up — years after a 1978 flood killed 15 people in Comfort, including his grandfather. Last year, the firehouse was given a new siren, while an old siren was refurbished and moved to Comfort Park, where officials hooked it up to a U.S. Geological Survey sensor at Cypress Creek, the AP. reported While the siren can be manually triggered, the sensor also does the same when water levels reach a certain point. According to the news agency, the sirens use a specific flat tone for floods and a different sound for tornados. “We do for ourselves and for the community,” Morales said. “If we hadn’t had a drought the past months and the [Cypress] Creek hadn’t been down, we could have had another '78. The past few days, I’ll tell you, it brings back a lot. Brady Constantine, fire marshal and emergency management coordinator for Kendall County, told ABC affiliate KSAT that he awoke to the a warning he set up around 2 a.m. on the day of the floods and learned of the rising waters of the Guadalupe River. He then called up Morales, who set up a command at the fire station by 4:30 a.m. The county sent out its first wireless emergency message by 5:30 a.m. — ahead of three additional alerts all before 8:06 a.m., per KSAT. The county also issued a mandatory evacuation for those living near the river, which began rising around 9 a.m. in Comfort, according to the outlet. At 10:52 a.m., the fire department sounded the flood sirens — both at the park and at the fire station. Together, the sirens cost the county about $70,000, with 80% covered by a nonprofit, according to KSAT. “We’re going to sit back and do an evaluation after this to see how we can improve our system," said County Judge Shane Stolarczyk. Beyond the sirens themselves, residents were also sent a flash flood warnings and additional notifications, per the outlet. “That warning system was utilized and was a significant factor in us having a quick response,” Stolarczyk said. Cruz Newberry, owner of Table Rock Alerting Systems which installed Comfort’s system last year, told NBC News that the sirens are a measure of a last resort — following media alerts, phone warnings and social media. “The nice thing with an outdoor warning system is it’s one of the few methods that local officials have at their disposal where they can literally press a button and warn citizens themselves,” Newberry said. “It’s difficult to ignore a siren blaring for three minutes straight.”
  2. Of course this also made me cry but honestly I’m glad people are actually doing this. 💔 🥺
  3. This man did the same after Uvalde. Bless him.
  4. It is. 💔💔💔 I cannot wrap my head around any of this honestly. My heart just aches. Like a physical ache and i didn’t lose a loved one or a child. If only we could all rally around each other 90 plus % of the time as we do in great tragedies. My older cousin’s sorority sister lost her 8 year old at Mystic in the flood. Right now I am told she is sleeping in her daughter’s room. I cannot fathom any of this. I can only offer what I can to help. My younger cousin’s best friend is Greta’s aunt. The stories I am hearing are things none of us seek out to hear. God bless them all.
  5. Incredible outpouring of support. You still have time to hit up P Terry’s for a small donation. Veracruz, Moonshine Grill and Kerbey Lane are also contributing. If you still need to stuff your faces before midnight lol. 😂
  6. Exactly. And I know it’s been mentioned but most of these camp directors are older. Their kids or other family didn’t want to take over as directors. Many wanted them to sell the land as property values outpaced their camper profits. Waldemar held tons of corporate events as well in the offseason and other things. I think the older age of these current camp directors were a contributing factor as to why nothing changed (like the camp upper river earns the next camp and so on phone tree they’d been used to) Dick Eastland was 71 I think, I am not saying that’s ancient at all or that it absolved him of any responsibility but he and Tweety probably weren’t as vigilant as they would have been. Just thoughts in my head. 💔💔
  7. It’s fairly diverse. Yeah there are really rich people and older people that live on nice pieces of land and such. But any town over 20,000 (Kerrville) you do have a fair mix. And many of those living in town aren’t wealthy. But I can see how people thinking of Hunt and Ingram residents in that way. Those who have big swaths of family land. Most of the older types are not showy though (sure some are same as every place) but they are pretty laid back. Most don’t advertise what they have and if you ran into some at a store in town you wouldn’t think…”yeah that’s a really rich person.” Like I said there are some showy types but the vast majority are very understated. At least in my experience.
  8. I know they are trying to arrange for fosters like this little cutie. I share because I don’t want people to forget about our furry friends. Some sadly have lost their owners forever. this account is a good one to follow. Hope this doggie gets a great foster.
  9. I can only speak to my 8 summers as a camper and one summer as a counselor at Waldemar. It’s just very laid back. Small town feel. The magic of that place could be felt—now I can only imagine the mentality. A warning system that seemed even less effective than strings tied to cans in a treehouse. You got the sense or at least I did as a camper “floods happen but it ain’t no big thing.” I never got the sense as a camper that the river would turn on you or that we wouldn’t be safe. It’s that feeling that the camp directors were in charge of all that and no worries. I am honestly shocked a disaster like this had not happened before now. It will never be the same. There will be lots of changes whether people wanted them or want them now or not. It was just a sleepy beautiful slow moving place. Now it is being drug forcefully 99 years into the future. Knowing a few locals and again I can only speak to my direct knowledge I can say they likely felt this sort of phone tree like warning system was adequate and feared any other type of change. Now change will be forced on them. The whole thing is past heartbreaking. Felt heartsick since we all learned the news of multiple people missing. These are not people who thrive on change. Just do what they do. It will never be the same and just as they wanted to live near the magical river with its mists rising off of it…they didn’t respect the power of it. And so I get the frustration people from the outside looking in have on the locals. They were living at their own pace with very few changes for a long time—thinking nothing bad will happen here. Wrong. this could have been an event where if the people had been amenable to change and to a common sense and necessary warning system we would be talking about how sad the devastation and destruction is and there would not have been significant loss of life. Instead it’s about the profound unnecessary loss of life and the destruction.
  10. Heart o the Hills was not in session. However, Jane Ragsdale died (the director) in the flood. My friends and cousins have heard many heroic stories from Mystic and La Junta (a miracle there no lives were lost.) La Junta stories (some of which have been made public) I am sure that will be shared in the coming days. People talk about resilience and the kindness of strangers and all of us coming together…and that is a wonderful thing…but this has left a huge hole in the heart of our state and in many of our hearts.
  11. Perfectly said. 💔
  12. Goes along with y’all’s posts above.
  13. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 No other words needed. 🥺
  14. Thankfully all 13 children were evacuated by Fort Hood. I posted the link to donate to Hope House, since 1966, they have been caring for profoundly disabled children. Anyway the link to donate is in the how you can help thread. I am hoping this winds up on page 12. Page 11 sucketh.
  15. I took the tweet down bc it disappeared. There are a ton with those same pics but yes at one point pretty sure he lived in Austin. Appologies if not real. Was trying to find some happy amidst all the awful and that had popped up in my feed. Should have done more vetting. I typically do. I’m trying to organize meal trains for the parents of one of the girls who died and organize some other things for their two funerals and to make sure the parents will have what we are able to get for them, We received so many donations for the two girls: Greta and the other girl (I am not allowed to post her name) that we are trying to figure out what to do with the excess money. again my apologies, I ain’t on FB, and I usually try to keep things within the rules, ahem. SIAP I saw this and it was a masterful explanation. My heart is in a lot of places right now trying to help on different ways.
  16. Like many of you been decompressing from all the awful news. I do think that the locals felt and maybe some still do that their version of a warning system was more than adequate. However upsetting and rage inducing that is. I also think their big fear bc of the road situation coming in and out of places like Hunt, Ingram and Kerrville was telling people to evacuate and getting them killed that way. As a Waldemar camper who suffered thru 8 years of pick ups there aren’t many ways in/out of places. Most of the time only one way. if anyone has any helpful information to share about grieving or helping to talk to others who are grieving I would appreciate it. My youngest cousin is really going through it. Both girls that my two cousins were trying to find have been found so I suppose that has to be the only blessing I can see. That they were found. hugs to all y’all assholes.
  17. Edited bc the tweet has disappeared it seems like. If I find another one I will replace here.
  18. I was looking at the occupancy of many of the trailer parks that likely would have been to capacity in the area. It’s unfathomable. Then you have the hundreds who were successfully rescued. I think the bulk of the missing or unaccounted for were either camping as many have said or in those parks. im just gutted. I spent like all of you all weekend and all last night searching thru any and all information to find out about Greta. Only to get the sad phone call this morning that she has been found deceased. God bless our searchers and volunteers. Every one of them. Keep them safe. I can only imagine how soul crushing it is.
  19. Greta (the Mystic Camper who is the niece of my younger cousin’s best friend) the girl I posted we had been looking for has sadly been found deceased. I have no more words. I’m gutted. Hugs to all of y’all. Fuck.
  20. Hope House is raising funds to recover and rebuild after the storm. Donations can be made at www.hopehousekids.org. Hope House, a group home that has served profoundly disabled children since 1966, was one of the hardest-hit facilities in the area. Early Saturday morning, floodwaters began pouring into the building. The 13 medically fragile children living there, along with three staff members, were evacuated by a combination of military helicopters from Fort Hood and local emergency crews. https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/after-deadly-flooding-recovery-begins-in-wilco-including-a-group-home-for-disabled-kids#
  21. Thank you for your faith in me kind sir. ♥️😃
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