Last Friday, America received yet another tragic lesson that Mother Nature’s wrath is unpredictable and unstoppable. At least 19 were killed by a flash flood at an Arkansas campground that hit while most of the campers were asleep with no way to escape the rush of water, mud and debris.

CNN is reporting a first-hand account from one of the flood survivors.

Survivor Terri Rhoeder, who lost her mother, brother and sister-in-law in the tragedy, described for CNN’s “American Morning” how quickly the water rose. She had been sleeping outside on an air mattress when she awoke and realized she was floating on the water.

“When I stood up from my bed, it was at my knees,” Rhoeder said. “By the time I could contemplate what was going on, its at my waist. And I was being swept out with it at my shoulders. As campers, we are used to nature. Not this extreme.”

The water rose from the normal level of four feet to 23 feet within a short period, Beebe said

Fortunately, her niece did survive — by grabbing a tree branch and hanging on for three hours waiting for a rescue team, which continued its efforts to locate as many people as possible in the immediate aftermath, eventually growing to some 100 rescuers as it continued to search throughout the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas.

Even with the tragedy so recent, it is — as always — important for those responsible for disaster response to evaluate what could have been done better. In this case, officials will look at the flash flood warning system.

The warning system intended to notify campers on federal land about potentially devastating weather will be re-examined in Arkansas and throughout the nation, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Saturday.

You can hear about the disaster in the video below.