In the days following the devastating flash floods in Texas, we've heard countless stories of loss and heartbreak. But emerging alongside the tragedy are powerful accounts of heroism.

• The big picture: Disasters often reveal the best of humanity.

Zoom in: On that terrifying morning as floodwaters rapidly rose, acts of extraordinary courage stood out. A teenage camp counselor, an 82-year-old great-grandmother, and a stranger who rescued a mother and her four children during his morning commute are among the heroes who showed remarkable bravery and composure — and saved lives. We can all be inspired by their stories:

🔦 Ainslie Bashara, a 19-year-old counselor at Camp Mystic, which was hit hard by the floods, saved all 16 8- to 10-year-olds in "Giggle Box," her cabin. She and co-counselors took the girls in small groups, with just one headlamp between them.

• "All of them were crying. They clung to Ainslie — her arms, back, waist, hair — as the former dancer slogged through the current toward a dry pavilion about 30 yards away," The Washington Post's John Woodrow Cox writes (gift link).
• When they got to drier land, the teen counselors led the little kids in prayer. "'Can I pray about my stuffed animal that I left in my cabin?' one girl asked, so they prayed for Banana the monkey, too," Cox writes.

🏠 Penny Deupree's house stood three miles down the Guadalupe River from Camp Mystic. The morning the floods hit, the 82-year-old was hosting her son and daughter-in-law, two granddaughters and their partners, and two great-grandchildren, The Wall Street Journal's Dan Frosch reports (gift link).

• She noticed the flooding starting when she got up to use the bathroom at 3 a.m., and woke up the whole family.
• All of them, including two dogs, got up to the house's loft. Then, when the water kept rising, they used a pocketknife and sheer strength to punch a hole into the side of the house. They crawled through it one by one and swam up to the roof to wait for help. Eventually, they all made it down safely — humans and dogs.

🚨 Matthew Crowder was on his morning commute when a flooding home caught his attention.

• He went over to the house and started screaming to wake up Crissy Eliashar, a mom, who was sleeping inside with four kids, NBC News reports. He then helped guide them to safety.
• Matthew's warning saved all five of them, along with four dogs, not too long before the flood ripped their home off its foundation.
• During the rescue, Crissy's young daughter, Dove, tripped and was almost washed away. But her son — Dove's older brother — jumped in and grabbed his sister by her hair to save her, Crissy told NBC.

💛 What you can do: Consider giving to a fundraiser on this list of verified GoFundMe campaigns started by families affected by the flooding.

People soaked up the second and last Manhattanhenge of 2025 from 42nd Street in Manhattan on Friday.

• That's when the setting sun aligns precisely with the east-west grid of Manhattan's streets.