Bubble Inn saw generations of 8-year-olds enter as strangers and emerge as confident young ladies equipped with new skills from the great outdoors and lifelong friends – bonds that would one day prove vital in the face of unfathomable tragedy.

Alicia Duff tells PEOPLE how and why she decided to tell her kids, ages 6 and 8, that one of their friends died during the flooding in Texas.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's voice broke as she recounted her emotional visit to Camp Mystic in Texas.

Hope of finding survivors of the catastrophic flooding in Texas is dimming a day after the death toll surpassed 100.

Brooklyn and Bailey MckNight's little sister, Paisley, was at a camp on a smaller arm of the Guadalupe River. The 14-year-old was "just miles" away from Camp Mystic in Central Texas, which has been devastated by the deadly floodwaters spurred by extreme rainfall on July 4.

"Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe river," started the statement on the website of Camp Mystic for Girls. "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly."

Amy and Joe Etheridge, of Cat Spring, say they dropped off their son, Windom, at Camp La Junta in Hunt, about 13 miles west of Kerrville, last week.