Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke at a meeting of Trump’s Cabinet Tuesday morning, and she grew emotional describing the devastation caused by the catastrophic flooding of the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas over the weekend. The death count has risen past 100, including numerous young girls from a Christian summer camp.
Noem spoke of the heartbreak of meeting with the father of a missing girl, saying, “I had kind of fallen apart in there” due to the overwhelming emotions:
"One of the things that I asked... was that they all have escorts or counselors when parents come in."
Her story, and the father’s, is a tough one to hear:
I had walked through the cabin where all the little girls died, and I had kind of fallen apart in there, but I walked out of the cabin and a gentleman was standing there and he said, that man over there needs a hug.
And so I walked over to him and I hugged him and I said, "Do you work here?" And he said, "No, my little girl was in that cabin." And he said, and I just found her best friend about an hour and a half ago, she had passed away. And he just fell apart. And so then we just hugged and talked for probably an hour about that, but then there was another the grandpa was there looking for his granddaughter as well.
She also told the gut-wrenching story of a counselor who did her best to save lives but was overcome by the deluge:
There was a dad there of one of the counselors. The counselor was alive, but she was dealing with the fact that she had hung on to some of these girls and was trying to keep them out of the floodwaters and had gotten hit by something and had lost two of the girls and wasn't able to hang on to them and was going to live the rest of her life thinking about that moment when she wasn't able to hang on to these girls.
It's hard to imagine the feelings of parents and survivors as they picked through the mud to find the children’s belongings:
But these parents were picking up their kids’ belongings out of the mud and throughout the camp, and putting them in bags and then one of the dads said, I knew 50 of these girls here. So I knew that was her dress, as my daughter's friend's dress, so he was picking it up and putting it in a bag to return to her parents.
…then the director was there comforting everybody who had lost his father at the night before, too, and he was still there trying to facilitate all of these parents, grieving their children and find them.
So the strength of people is incredible.… And so, very emotional, but also just so tragic.
RELATED: Amid Tragedy and Heartbreak in Texas, Hero Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Saves Over 160 Lives
Amazing Rescue of Woman in Tree, Stunning Video Shows Just How Fast TX Flood Waters Rose
Noem continued, speaking eloquently about the federal efforts to help local authorities, her faith, and the resilience of the American people in times of such tragedy:
The heartbreak in Texas has affected the hearts of all Americans, and we pray for the victims and their families. Many heroes have stepped up too, and we also honor them.