Five months have passed since the tragic Texas Hill Country flood, and newly released 911 calls paint a vivid picture of panic, desperation, and heart-wrenching pleas for help.

The two emergency dispatchers on duty faced an overwhelming wave of distress as calls flooded in from people trapped in deteriorating situations. Responders received over 400 calls from individuals stranded in their homes, summer camp cabins, and even trees. Many called repeatedly, desperate to convey their worsening circumstances and plead for rescue.

One caller shared their concern, stating, “We’re okay, but we live about a mile down the road from Camp Mystic, and we’ve already rescued two little girls who floated down the river. I’m worried about how many more are out there.”

In the background of these pleas, Irene Valdez stood under the rain, visiting a makeshift memorial for flood victims along the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Sunday, July 13, 2025. (Eric Gay, File/AP Photo)

Camp Mystic, a beloved all-girls Christian summer camp situated along the Guadalupe River, suffered a devastating loss of 25 campers and two teenage counselors. In a heroic yet tragic turn of events, the camp’s longtime director and co-owner, Dick Eastland, lost his life while attempting to save the campers.

Britt Eastland, the co-director of Camp Mystic and Dick’s son, called 911 as well, asking for the National Guard to be called because as many as 40 people were missing, The Associated Press reported.

A counselor at Camp La Junta called as water filled a cabin “super fast,” as screams of campers could be heard in the background. Everyone in the cabin and the rest of the campers at Camp La Junta were rescued, according to the AP.

In another call, a woman frantically says that she and two elderly people were trapped in a house and could not get out. She begged for help and told the dispatcher that she was scared.

A search and rescue volunteer holds a T-shirt and backpack with the words Camp Mystic on them in Comfort, Texas on July 6, 2025.   (Danielle Villasana for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Yet another caller said that there were people floating by screaming for help as others went into their attics and onto their roofs in an attempt to escape the rapidly rising waters.

“We have people in water, I guess, floating that are screaming for help and we, we can’t get to them,” the caller said. “People are in their attics and on their routes if there’s anybody that can get to us with a helicopter or something?”

The dispatcher informed her that help was on the way but that the water was “slowing us down a little bit.”

Campers belongings sit outside one of Camp Mystic’s cabins near the Guadalupe River, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Hunt, Texas, after a flash flood swept through the area. (Eli Hartman/AP Photo)

“The tree I’m in is starting to lean, and it’s going to fall. Is there a helicopter close?” Bradley Perry, a firefighter, calmly told a dispatcher, adding that he saw his wife, Tina, and their RV wash away, according to the AP.

Perry did not survive, making him one of the more than 130 people killed in the deadly July 4 floods. The AP reported that his wife was later found alive, clinging to a tree.