Two days before flash floods on the Guadalupe River in Texas killed dozens of campers at a Christian girls summer camp, a state inspector approved operations, noting there was a written plan for responding to natural disasters.

On the morning of July 7, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo expressed condolences for the lives lost in the floods. She also recognized Garza and Zárate for their efforts helping save camp attendees. “They make us proud,” she said.

In what experts call "Flash Flood Alley," the terrain reacts quickly to rainfall steep slopes, rocky ground, and narrow riverbeds leave little time for warning.