At least 19 of the cabins at Camp Mystic were located in designated flood zones, including some in an area deemed “extremely hazardous” by the county.

KERRVILLE, Texas — Texas-based company James Avery artisan jewelry is mourning the loss of a young family member who died in last week's flash flooding. The company's chairman announced Friday that 8-year-old Renee Smajstrla died in the Kerr County floods. She was a camper at Camp Mystic. The camp has lost 27 campers and counselors in the flood.

For decades, Dick and Tweety Eastland presided over Camp Mystic with a kind of magisterial benevolence that alumni well past childhood still describe with awe.

Kerr County first tried to secure $1 million for a flood warning system in 2017, but could not. Could such a system have prevented loss of life on July 4?