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.

"And our cabins are high up, and for them to be flooding, it's like, you know, something's wrong," Georgia Jones said.

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

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.

When Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls nestled in Texas Hill Country, experienced catastrophic flooding on July 4, Executive Director Richard “Dick” Eastland worked as quickly as he could to get his campers to safety.