Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters airlift 202 Missouri campers
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In a high-risk rescue operation Friday, Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters swooped into Missouri’s Reynolds County to airlift 202 teenage campers and staff stranded by rapidly rising floodwaters at Camp Taum Sauk along the Black River in the Missouri Ozarks.
In the video released by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, tense moments were recorded as children ran to board waiting helicopters.
Soldiers reported that the campers, ages 8 to 16, and their counselors were successfully evacuated and safely reunited with their families in St. He said he was taken to St. Louis.
1 dead, storm and heavy rain follow devastating flood in MISSOURI
The video showed the dramatic rescue of Black Hawk amid flooding in Missouri. (Sgt. Eddie Young/Missouri State Highway Patrol)
“We are grateful for your help in keeping our camp community safe,” Camp Taum Sauk officials said in an Instagram post Saturday morning, expressing gratitude to the National Guard, Reynolds County 911 Emergency Responders and the local Arcadia community.
The historic co-educational camp has been in St. Petersburg since 1946. It operates out of Lesterville, about 125 miles south of St. Louis.
The rescue of the campers came a little more than a year after the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country flooded on July 4, 2025, killing at least 135 people, including 28 at the all-girls Camp Mystic.
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FILE – Items are scattered throughout a cabin at Camp Mystic following deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, on July 5, 2025. (Reuters/Sergio Flores, File)
The operators of the nearby Bearcat Getaway campground closed their facilities over the weekend and confirmed on Facebook Friday afternoon that all campers and staff were safe and accounted for.
The dramatic air rescue at Camp Taum Sauk was part of a massive, coordinated emergency response across Missouri after a relentless storm system dumped 6 to 12 inches of rain across the central, south-central and southeastern parts of the state.
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The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency shared photos of the devastating flooding on Saturday. (Missouri State Emergency Management Agency via Facebook)
Following Gov. Mike Kehoe’s executive order declaring a state of emergency, local emergency personnel conducted at least 351 swift water rescues across the region.
“Once again, Missouri’s first responders responded to the call with extraordinary courage, professionalism and compassion,” Kehoe wrote in a statement on Facebook.
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State officials are urging caution after the National Weather Service warned that already saturated soils could see 2 to 4 inches of additional rainfall over the weekend.
