The Fourth of July is usually a fireworks-and-folks-and-parade type holiday, except for this one in Texas this summer, when it was a day of mourning. The Guadalupe River became a killer current after the heavy rains swept through Camp Mystic, a summer camp for girls in the hill country of Wimberley. While floodwaters raged and destruction scoured the landscape, the tragedy reached far beyond the hill country. Among them who responded early was Cowboys great Emmitt Smith.
Over Fourth of July weekend, Smith reposted an Instagram message from Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt‘s wife, Tavia Hunt. Across her mournful black-and-white illustrations, he wrote, “Continuing to send my deepest thoughts and prayers to the Hunt family, as well as all who were affected by the recent tragedy .” His words carried the weight of sincerity, offering comfort in a moment when words often fall short.
The tragedy Smith elevated took place 400 miles to the south of AT&T Stadium. In the pre-dawn hours of July 4, deluges of rain turned the Guadalupe River into a wall of water that crashed into Camp Mystic, a 100-year-old girls’ summer camp near Wimberley.
Texas flood claims Clark Hunt’s cousin and dozens more
The flood waters splintered wooden cabins and made footbridges disappear. Panicked counselors guided campers to the limestone bluffs. By the time July 7 rolled around, officials had confirmed at least 79 fatalities across the state. 27 of which were campers and counselors carried away within the camp. Helicopters hovered at tree-top height, winching survivors to safety as Texas Game Wardens pulled the riverbed with steel hooks. Search units on horseback scoured creek beds strewn with sleeping‑bag flotsam. Moreover, a mobile morgue was set up outside the Hays County fairgrounds.
Among the dead were nine-year-old Janie Hunt, a cousin of Clark Hunt. “Our hearts are broken by the devastation from the floods … including a precious little Hunt cousin, along with several friends’ little girls.” Tavia Hunt posted on her Instagram. The same entry found its way to Emmitt Smith’s tale and soon turned into a virtual prayer wall.
The Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans each committed $500,000, along with the NFL Foundation, for a $1.5 million relief fund to the Salvation Army and Red Cross. Patrick Mahomes’s 15 and the Mahomies Foundation partnered with the American Red Cross for a future Kansas City blood‑donation event, calling on fans to refill critically low supplies. In the meantime, Texas natives Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner leveraged their followings to raise donations.
But Emmitt Smith’s minimalist, brief statement, mourn with those who mourn, give as you are able, pray constantly, has become a blueprint for an NFL family brought together suddenly by tragedy.
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