The emergency weather alert had come early Fourth of July morning: There would be life-threatening flash flooding in Kerr County, Texas.

At least 132 people, including 27 campers from Camp Mystic, have died after the catastrophic July 4th flood in Texas Hill Country.

Taaffe called the counselors at Camp Mystic “heroes” and wore a tie to honor them and the young girls who died during the Central Texas flood.

Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map, as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain.

Camp Mystic successfully appealed to remove several structures from a FEMA flood zone, despite being located in a high-risk flood area in Texas Hill Country.

Camp Mystic owners successfully appealed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to redesignate some buildings that had been considered part of a flood-hazard zone.

Camp Mystic camper Blakely McCrory, 8, died in the Texas floods on the Fourth of July shortly after her dad and uncle died. Her mom, Lindsey McLeod McCrory, tells PEOPLE about Blakely's 'contagious spirit' and one of the final letters she received from her.

Bubble Inn saw generations of 8-year-olds enter as strangers and emerge as confident young ladies equipped with new skills from the great outdoors and lifelong friends – bonds that would one day prove vital in the face of unfathomable tragedy.