As floodwaters rose in Texas, camp counselors hoisted children onto rafters, carried them to dry ground and sang with them to keep them calm.

Camp Mystic has deep roots with Texas politicians, including former first lady Laura Bush, who worked as a counselor there, and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent his daughters there.

Brooklyn and Bailey McKnight's little sister, Paisley, was at a camp on a smaller arm of the Guadalupe River. The 14-year-old was "just miles" away from Camp Mystic in Central Texas, which has been devastated by the deadly floodwaters spurred by extreme rainfall on July 4.

Frantic calls from parents are being answered at summer camps across central Texas. One camp telling KXAN investigators parents are calling and checking on their kids and asking about emergency plans in place.

Catastrophic flooding in Texas has devastated faith-based summer camps, including Camp Mystic, where at least 27 people have died.

Texas inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's emergency plan just two days before the devastating flood killed more than two dozen people at the all-girls Christian summer camp​, most of them children.

MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATION: The catastrophic flooding struck on Friday, causing a surge of 20 to 26 feet on the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, causing widespread damage. President Donald Trump has signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, which is west of Austin.

The storms that battered the Hill Country for the last four days began to lighten up, although isolated pockets of heavy rain were still possible.