CNN anchor who attended Camp Mystic ‘overwhelmed with emotion’ as she returns to cover Texas floods

A CNN reporter shared on air how “surreal” it has been for her to cover the devastation at a “magical place” like Camp Mystic after attending the Texas camp herself as a young girl. 

Pamela Brown, CNN’s chief investigative correspondent, shared her fond memories of the camp that was ravaged by Friday’s floods during a live broadcast in an emotional off-the-cuff moment.

“It’s surreal coming back here 30 years later. I was a 10-year old little camper here filled with so much hope and joy,” Brown said during a discussion with an anchor. “I remember the excitement and anticipation of coming to Camp Mystic.”

She explained how hard it was to wrap her head around how a river that is the source of such fond memories for her and other former campers could be the source of so much unspeakable tragedy.

“It’s such a magical place, now all these girls – these sweet young campers – who had to evacuate and their families,” she said. “So much innocence has now been lost.” 

Brown, along with the press corps from around the country and the world, have descended upon Texas Hill Country after a once-in-a-generation catastrophic flood devastated the area Friday, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, including Camp Mystic, an historic all-girl Christian camp that catered to Texas’s elite.

At least five girls from the camp have been confirmed dead — all ages 8 and 9 — and 10 others are still missing.

The death toll from Friday morning’s calamitous flooding rose to at least 80 across Texas on Sunday evening, with 68 of the deaths in Kerr County, where Camp Mystic’s two campuses once stood.

“For me coming back I’m overwhelmed with emotion and I’m overwhelmed with memories,” Brown said. “I can’t get over looking at those cabins right next to the Guadalupe River, that river was the source of so much joy.”

She and her fellow campers loved to play games in the river. 

“There was this thing called The Blob, which was like this inflated balloon type thing that we would jump on and then the person at the end would jump off into the water and it was so much fun,” she reminisced. 

Brown recounted how she and her fellow campers spent much of their time frolicking in the river, and even hunted for dinosaur fossils. 

“Thats what we loved. And to think that that same river is the source of this devastation,” she added. 

Brown is a multi award-winning CNN anchor and chief investigative correspondent, who currently anchors The Situation Room, according to her bio on the CNN website.