Gov. Glenn Youngkin says his family in Texas was saved from catastrophic flooding

RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Glenn Youngkin told reporters Tuesday that his family in Texas was saved from catastrophic flooding in Texas that has left more than 100 people dead.

The governor's office provided CBS 6 a full transcription of Youngkin's response to a reporter from The Washington Post regarding the flooding.

He explained to media members that his family has been engaged with that region of Texas for decades.

"These people are family to us, deep relationships. And, therefore, what happened in the wee hours of the morning on Friday has been devastating," the governor said. "The loss of life is just shocking. These are young girls and young men, brothers and sisters and sons and daughters, parents, grandparents. And it is really emotionally overwhelming, I have to say. My family was there along with friends, and by the grace of God, my family was safe. I have to say there was moments when they weren't. They ended up being safe during the day. I arrived on the 4th after my July 4th activities here."

Youngkin called Texas leaders' response to the flooding "extraordinary."

Watch: Virginia volunteers feed Texas flood victims as search continues for missing: 'It's unimaginable'

"And the response from the state of Texas was extraordinary, from their emergency management teams, from the Governor, from the Texas National Guard. I mean, every resource was deployed," he said.

The governor added that officials offered to go rescue his family.

"My family was safe, and so they offered to go get them immediately, and I said, 'No. I've talked to them. My family is safe. Please go rescue these young campers from these places,' and when everyone else has been attended to, like other people that are safe but stranded, we'll be with my family," Youngkin said. "That evening, the Swift Water Rescue crews and the Texas National Guard were able to go in and get my family. I went with them and was just grateful, incredibly grateful that they were able to do that."

When asked if his family was airlifted, Youngkin said the helicopters were dedicated to rescuing campers.

"The helicopters were specifically dedicated to getting all of the campers out. And they offered, and I said, Goodness gracious, guys, go get the campers. The shuttle missions back and forth from particularly Camp Mystic, which was the camp that was most impacted, were all day on Friday as they were bringing these young girls and counselors out, getting them to safety," he said. "And one of the other camps along the river, which is called Camp LaHunta, which is all boys, by literally God's grace, as their cabins were being washed away, they did not have a single loss of life. They got them out that afternoon on Friday afternoon as well. There were a number of other camps in the area, and they were able to confirm that those campers were safe. And they really did focus on getting those campers out and getting others that were stranded in compromised positions."

Youngkin added that Virginia has sent swift water rescue teams to support Texas as the search for more missing people continues.

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