More camps needed staffers like Aroldo Barrera!

[LeftInTX]

It was about 1 a.m. on the Fourth of July when the facilities manager at a central Texas summer camp saw water from the Guadalupe River steadily rising amid a deluge of rain.

Aroldo Barrera notified his boss, who had been monitoring reports of the storms approaching Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, a recreation destination where an intercultural youth conference had been called off early just hours earlier.

Despite an absence of warning by local authorities, camp officials acted quickly on their own, relocating about 70 children and adults staying overnight in a building near the river. With the kids safe, camp leaders including President and CEO Tim Huchton were able to avoid the catastrophe that hit at least one other camp near Hunt, where the 500-acre Mo-Ranch is located.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/06/quick-action-by-1-texas-summer-camp-led-to-timely-evacuations-ahead-of-deadly-flood-00441065

I'm sure Aroldo Barrera was looking at the radar and saw that mesoscale convective system, with bright pink in the center parked over the headwaters of the Guadalupe river. (A few miles west of Hunt) The river is quite narrow in Hunt, hence a very heavy rainfall will have a much strong impact than 12 inches of rain in a larger river.





He was wise and knew what he was doing! Yet, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to read a weather radar.

I wish other camps had staffers like him!!

WPC issued as many as six MPDs for the deadly flash flooding in the TX Hill Country starting yesterday evening and lasting through much of today. The first MPD generally set the stage for what was to come, while the next three shown were as the event unfolded.

— Peter Mullinax (@wxmvpete.bsky.social) 2025-07-05T00:03:07.896Z

[efhmc]

1. So, what happened next? Did they evacuate?

[LeftInTX]

2. They went to higher ground at the camp at 1 am. This was 3 hours before the trouble began.

He saw the flood coming based on his observations.

Going to higher ground is how you deal with a flash flood like this. They stayed on-site, but moved to an area in the camp that was out of the flood plain.

All of the children's camps have hiking/horseback riding areas that are not in the flood plain because the area is quite hilly. Those higher ground areas may or may not have covered shelters, but it's better than being swept away.

Camp La Junta moved to higher ground after the camp was flooded. The kids escaped in their underwear and sat in the storm. They did not lose any campers, but they did come close to losing them.

[obamanut2012]

4. Remember, flash floods aren't like hurricane-type floods

Usually just going 50 to 100 feet uphill, or even just away from the water source, can save you. One of the families saved in Texas awoke to neck-deep water, and were able to get across the street to a neighbor's yard and were fine. I'm more used to the crazy hurricane flooding you can't get away from.

[malaise]

3. Get thee to the greatest page for visibility

Rec