Kristi Noem: ‘I walked through the cabin where all the little girls died’

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem described the scene in Texas as President Donald Trump met with his Cabinet at the White House Tuesday.

She visited Camp Mystic near Kerrville on Saturday, where at least 27 campers and counselors died in the 4th of July flash flooding. 

Noem said she was "surprised" when she arrived at the camp and saw the devastation.

"The parents that were looking for their children and picking up their daughters' stuffed animals out of the mud and finding their daughter's shoe that might be laying in the cabin and, just hugging and comforting people matters a lot," the secretary said.

Camp Mystic visit

What they're saying:

Noem attended President Trump’s cabinet meeting Tuesday and shared her experience visiting the hard-hit site in Kerr County. 

"I had walked through the cabin where all the little girls died. And I, I had kind of fallen apart in there," she shared. 

But she went on to detail the overwhelming support she saw from grieving loved ones who were also at the site. She said she met a man whose daughter was in the cabin. 

"And he said, ‘I just found her best friend about an hour and a half ago, she had passed away.’ And he just fell apart," Noem shared. "And so we just hugged and talked for an hour about that." 

She said she met several other parents who were picking their kids’ belongings out of the mud throughout the camp and putting them in bags. 

She also met a parent of a camp counselor who had survived. She shared that the counselor was having a hard time. 

"She was dealing with the fact that she had hung on to some of these girls and was trying to keep them out of the flood waters, and had gotten hit by something and had lost two of the girls and and wasn't able to hang on to them and was going to live the rest of her life, thinking about that moment when she wasn't able to hang on to these girls," Noem said. 

"The strength of people is incredible," she concluded, and said her visit was very emotional. 

RELATED: Texas flooding: How you can help people in Kerrville

Community support

Earlier, Noem said she was grateful for "God’s hand in that whole situation" because of all the lives that were saved. 

"This is a time for all of us in this country to remember that we were created to serve each other. God created us to take care of each other. And that, when we do that, we are happier, we are more fulfilled and we can walk alongside people on their worst day and help them get through it and come out the other side," she said. 

RELATED: Coast Guard member who saved 165 flood victims: 'I was just doing my job'

Camp Mystic flooding

The latest:

Noem said first responders are "still looking for a lot of little girls" who remain missing after the flash flooding. At least five girls and a counselor were still reported missing on Tuesday. At least 27 campers and counselors died. 

What happened:

A wall of water slammed into camps and homes along the edge of the Guadalupe River before daybreak on the Fourth of July, pulling people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and sweeping them miles away. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.

More than 100 people were killed in the state, with the vast majority of deaths in hard-hit Kerr County. 

What's next:

Trump announced during the Cabinet meeting that he and his wife, Melania, will visit Texas on Friday.

Texas