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“(A) Sturdy aluminum kayak, canoe, that is wrapped around a tree like a pretzel. And that just shows you the sheer power of the water."
That's Lisa Winters, one of the camp officials at Mo-Ranch, a Presbyterian conference centre in central Texas that runs retreats and summer camps.
It was one of the places hit by flash flooding when the nearby Guadalupe River broke its banks after torrential rain fell on the fourth of July, the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
The number of deaths in the region has already reached at least 104 - and Texas Governor Greg Abbott says an undetermined number of people are unaccounted for.
"Especially in the Kerrville area, there were so many people who were just camping out, not children in camps, but adults camping out near the river, people in RVs and things like that. There are people who are missing who are not on the known confirmed missing because we don't yet know who they are."
Hardest hit by the flooding was Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old camp, where dozens of young girls were swept away in the floodwaters and 27 are still missing.
Mo-Ranch was more fortunate.
Lisa Winters say the staff and campers there were all safely evacuated to higher ground when the facilities manager noticed the nearby river rising rapidly.
"He started to see it at one in the morning and that's when he called our president and CEO who lives on the ranch. And that they were worried enough that they started to just pull up everything on the riverfront. And then by three (in the morning), the only lodging where we knew we had kids, they evacuated them all. So that was three, four. So it just, from one on, it kept rising."
She says they didn't know things were going to get so bad.
"Hundreds of kids there, and I remember - what I remember, I wasn't even thinking, we had no warning, we had no warning that this was coming."
Local reporter Jim Vertuno says he's been hearing similar accounts.
"Some families have relayed some frustration that maybe they did not get enough warning in advance of the floods. Others have said things happened so fast, even those who've got a warning have very little time to react."
But state officials have so far bristled at suggestions that camps and residents in the area were potentially left to make their own decisions - in the absence of warnings or notifications from the county.
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice has said it's not the time to be responding to those concerns.
"I know you guys keep asking this question. You know, we appreciate it. We think it's important. We don't want to speculate. And, know, at this time we know there's a lot of speculation and questions around it again. There's gonna be a full review of this so we can make sure that we focus on future preparedness. We just - again - we want to continue to focus on the families at this time and so we're getting through that."
Senator Ted Cruz says some have been eager to point at the National Weather Service, and say the Trump administration cuts led to a lack of advance notice - an argument he argues is contradicted by the facts.
Chief Meteorologist for Accuweather, Jonathon Porter, agrees with such assessments.
"Notice the time difference between these flash flood warnings that were issued and the peak of the flash flooding that occurred in the Hunt, Texas, area around 4:30 Central Time. There were several hours of advanced notice, ample time for people to move to higher ground, and for the local officials to take action in order to move people to safe areas."
Still, questions about preparation and warnings are being asked in the nation's capital.
The U.S. Senate's top Democrat - Chuck Schumer - has requested the Department of Commerce's acting inspector look into whether staffing vacancies at the Weather Service's San Antonio office contributed to any delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy in forecasting the flooding.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has responded furiously to the request, saying local and state agencies acted appropriately - and that Trump's cuts did not affect authorities’ responses to the flooding.
"Any person who has deliberately lied about these facts surrounding this catastrophic event, you should be deeply ashamed."
In the meantime, the grim task of finding victims and even survivors has continued.
Governor Greg Abbott has vowed that authorities will be relentless and work around the clock to rescue and recover victims.
Colonel Freeman Martin from the Texas Department of Public Safety says new areas will be searched as the water recedes.
"This is tough work. It's hot there in the mud to remove and debris. There's snakes. There's water moccasins. This is God's work that they're doing."
