Hammond got his window down and he and his wife escaped through the front of the car. Malaya had the harder task of getting the minivan’s back door open as the water quickly rose, her father said. “Miraculously, she got it open in time," he said, and Malaya helped her siblings and the friend escape, sending them all into the rushing waters.

People awoke from water rushing around them during the early morning hours of July 4, all along the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country. Residents were seemingly caught off guard, but warnings had been issued days and hours before floodwaters began carrying away homes,

In early July 2025, a screenshot claimed to show a real Truth Social post by U.S. President Donald Trump calling on people to forget the "Epstein files" and focus on the "beautiful young girls" who died in the Texas flash floods over the Fourth of July. Per the screenshot, Trump wrote:

A 17-year-old girl has died in the Texas floods after helping her family exit their van that fell into the raging waters.

The claim circulated as rescuers searched for people missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

More than 111 people have died across six counties after flash flooding from heavy rain began affecting the state last week.