As floodwaters rose in Texas, camp counselors hoisted children onto rafters, carried them to dry ground and sang with them to keep them calm.

Camp Mystic has deep roots with Texas politicians, including former first lady Laura Bush, who worked as a counselor there, and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent his daughters there.

Lucy had been asleep Thursday night in her bunk at Camp Mystic, a roughly 750-person summer camp in Hunt. Rain had begun to pound an area known to be at severe risk of flash floods. On “Here’s the Scoop,” podcast co-host Morgan Chesky takes listeners on the ground to hear from survivors of Texas’ catastrophic flooding.

When tragedies are in the news — natural disasters, plane crashes, fires — parents naturally and unavoidably react by thinking about what might happen to their own children. And children worry in turn about what might happen to them.

Generations of the same family have operated the summer camp since 1939. It counts family members of former president and governors as alumnae.

One local summer camp in the path of the disastrous flooding in central Texas was able to avoid any loss of life by closely monitoring weather reports.

At least 27 died in one of the worst disasters ever for summer camps. The tragedy shines a spotlight on America's camps and whether they're safe.

Summer camp in the flood-prone Hill Country has long been a rite of passage for young people from Texas and beyond.

The American Camp Association advises parents to ask camps about their safety plans, including severe weather protocols and relationships with local emergency services. Some camps, even those far from danger,