Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared a gut-wrenching experience on Newsmax Tuesday as she recalled visiting the site of a tragic flood in Texas.

Flash flooding in Central Texas on July 4 killed at least 87 people, including 27 children and counselors from a summer camp, with many still missing. During an appearance on “The Record With Greta Van Susteren,” Noem said she went to the camp not knowing what to expect but hoped to offer comfort to the families. What she said she encountered was more devastating than she could have imagined.

“I wanted to go to the camp to be there, where all these little girls were missing. I didn’t expect that the parents would be there. I guess when I got there, it was about an hour drive from town, and when I got there and was walking through the cabin,” Noem told host Greta Van Susteren. “They were telling me that this was the cabin where all the little girls were lost. When I walked out, a gentleman said to me, ‘You know, that man could use a hug over there.’”

Noem recounted walking over to the grieving father.

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“I walked over to that man and gave him a hug, and I said, ‘Well, do you work here?’ And he said, ‘No, my little girl was in that cabin.’ And then he just fell apart, and then I did,” Noem said.

Noem said the floodwaters that took so many lives also left behind disturbing remnants, like stuffed animals, shoes and personal belongings scattered in the mud.

“When you walk through that camp, there’s stuffed animals laying in the mud and there’s shoes in the cabins. And the parents were not just looking for their children, but they were finding little pieces of their belongings too,” Noem said. “I guess that’s what was so heartbreaking, was seeing that kind of grief on their faces. They were trying to wrap their heads around it, too.”

Noem said she also spoke with another father.

“[I] talked to one dad, whose daughter was a counselor and had some girls in her arms and lost them in the current, who will think about that for the rest of her life too,” Noem said. “It’s the day that will change their lives forever. Everything in their life from now on will be ‘Well, that was before this happened.’ And that was after the flood, and that’s what I think is so monumental about this crisis.”

Flooding devastated Camp Mystic in Kerrville, Texas, destroying cabins and killing 27 campers while leaving 11 others missing. The youngest campers slept just 225 feet from the rapidly rising Guadalupe River, according to the New York Post.

In a statement, the camp expressed its grief and said, “Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River. Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly. We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.”

President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration Sunday to authorize federal relief and recovery efforts in the region. He plans to visit the area on Friday to assess the damage.

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