Hopes fade for Texas flood victims as death toll tops 95
Three days after a torrential predawn downpour transformed the Guadalupe River into a raging, killer torrent, a Christian girls' summer camp devastated by the flash flood confirmed 27 campers and counsellors were among those who had died.
On Monday officials said 10 girls and a camp counsellor were unaccounted for as search and rescue personnel faced the potential of more heavy rains and thunderstorms while clawing through muck-laden debris.
Most of the death toll from Friday's flooding was concentrated in and around the riverfront Hill Country town of Kerrville, including the ill-fated grounds of Camp Mystic.
By Monday afternoon the bodies of 84 flood victims — 56 adults and 28 children — were recovered in Kerr County, most in the county seat of Kerrville, according to the local sheriff.
As of midday on Sunday, state and local officials said 12 other flood-related fatalities had been confirmed across five neighbouring south-central Texas counties, and 41 other people were listed as missing outside Kerr County.
The New York Times, one many news media outlets publishing varying death tolls on Monday, reported at least 104 people had been killed across the entire flood zone.
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TimesLIVE
17 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Death toll from Texas flood hits triple digits as tally of missing tops 180
The death toll from the July 4 flash flood that ravaged a swath of central Texas Hill Country rose on Tuesday to at least 109, many of them children, as search teams pressed on through mounds of mud-encrusted debris looking for scores of missing people. According to figures released by governor Gregg Abbott, authorities were searching for more than 180 people whose fate remained unknown four days after one of the deadliest US flood events in decades. Most fatalities and the search for additional victims were concentrated in Kerr County and the county seat of Kerrville, a town of 25,000 residents transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early on Friday, flooding the Guadalupe River basin. The bodies of 94 flood victims, about a third of them children, had been recovered in Kerr County by Tuesday, Abbott said at a news conference after touring the area by air. The Kerr County dead include 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe near the town of Hunt. The camp director also died. Five girls and a camp counselor were unaccounted for on Tuesday, Abbott said, along with another child not associated with the camp. As of Tuesday, 15 other flood-related fatalities had been confirmed across a swath of Texas Hill Country known as "flash flood alley", the governor said, bringing the total of lives lost to 109. Reports from local sheriffs and media have put the number of flood deaths outside Kerr County at 22. However, authorities said they were bracing for the death toll to climb as flood waters recede and the search for victims gains momentum. Law enforcement agencies have compiled a list of 161 people "known to be missing" in Kerr County alone, Abbott said. The roster was checked against those who might be out of touch with loved ones or neighbours because they were away on vacation or out of town, according to the governor. He said 12 people were missing elsewhere across the flood zone, a sprawling area northwest of San Antonio. "We need to find every person who is missing. That's job number one," Abbott said. On Tuesday, San Antonio-born country singer Pat Green disclosed on social media that his younger brother and sister-in-law and two of their children were among those "swept away in the Kerrville flood". Hindered by intermittent thunderstorms and showers, rescue teams from federal agencies, neighbouring states and Mexico have joined local efforts to search for missing victims, though hopes of finding more survivors faded as time passed. The last victim found alive in Kerr County was on Friday. "The work is extremely treacherous, time-consuming," Lt-Col Ben Baker of the Texas game wardens said at a press conference. "It's dirty work. The water is still there." A water-soaked family photo album was among the personal belongings found in flood debris by Sandi Gilmer, 46, a US army veteran and certified chaplain volunteering in the search operation along the Guadalupe at Hunt. "I don't know how many people in the album are alive or deceased," she said, flipping through images of two toddlers and a gray-haired man. "I didn't have the heart to step over it without picking it up and hoping to return it to a family member." More than 30cm of rain fell in the region in less than an hour before dawn on Friday, sending a wall of water cascading down the Guadalupe that killed dozens of people and left mangled piles of debris, uprooted trees and overturned vehicles. Public officials have faced days of questions about whether they could have alerted people in flood-prone areas sooner. The state emergency management agency warned on Thursday, on the eve of the disaster, that parts of central Texas faced a flash floods threat, based on National Weather Service forecasts. However, twice as much rain as predicted fell over two branches of the Guadalupe upstream of the fork where they converge, sending all the water racing into the single river channel where it slices through Kerrville, city manager Dalton Rice said. Rice said the outcome was unforeseen and unfolded in two hours, leaving too little time to conduct a precautionary mass evacuation without the risk of placing more people in harm's way. Scientists have said extreme flood events are growing more common as climate change creates warmer, wetter weather patterns in Texas and other parts of the country. At an earlier news briefing on Tuesday, Kerr County sheriff Larry Leitha rebuffed questions about the county's emergency operations and preparedness and declined to say who was ultimately in charge of monitoring weather alerts and issuing flood warnings or evacuation orders. He said his office began receiving emergency calls between 4am and 5am on Friday, several hours after the local National Weather Service station issued a flash flood alert. "We're in the process of trying to put (together) a timeline," Leitha said. Abbott said a special session of the Texas legislature would convene later this month to investigate the emergency response and provide funding for disaster relief.
eNCA
2 days ago
- eNCA
Texas flood toll passes 100 as more bodies recovered
TEXAS - The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas rose to more than 100 on Monday, as rescuers continued their grim search for people swept away by torrents of water. Among the dead were at least 27 girls and counsellors who were staying at a youth summer camp on a river when disaster struck over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Forecasters have warned of more flooding as rain falls on saturated ground, complicating recovery efforts involving helicopters, boats, dogs and some 1,750 personnel. "There is still a threat of heavy rain with the potential to cause flooding," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement Monday, with the number of victims expected to rise still. President Donald Trump confirmed he planned to visit Texas on Friday, as the White House slammed critics claiming his cuts to weather agencies had weakened warning systems. "Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. She said the National Weather Service, which The New York Times reported had several key roles in Texas unfilled before the floods, issued "timely and precise forecasts and warnings." Trump has described the floods that struck in the early hours of Friday as a "100-year catastrophe" that "nobody expected." The president, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state level, has signed a major disaster declaration, activating fresh federal funds and freeing up resources. - 'Tragedy' - AFP | RONALDO SCHEMIDT At least 104 flood-related deaths were reported across central Texas. Kerr County, through which the Guadalupe River runs, was the hardest hit, with at least 84 people killed including 28 children, according to the local sheriff's office. The toll includes 27 who had been staying at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp that was housing about 750 people when the floodwaters struck. Camps are a beloved tradition in the long US summer holidays, with children often staying in woods, parks and other rural areas. Texas Senator Ted Cruz described them as a chance to make "lifetime friends - and then suddenly it turns to tragedy." But some residents were questioning the absence of more robust flood-warning systems in this region of south and central Texas - where such deluges are so frequent that it is known colloquially as "Flash Flood Alley." Experts stress the NWS sent out timely forecasts, and climate scientist Daniel Swain pinned the problem on a failure of "warning dissemination." San Antonio mother Nicole Wilson - who almost sent her daughters to Camp Mystic - launched a petition on urging Governor Greg Abbott to approve a modern warning network. "Five minutes of that siren going off could have saved every single one of those children," she told AFP. At a candlelight vigil in San Antonio on Monday night, Texans gathered to pray for the victims of the floods and voice lingering fears. "I was pretty shocked on the gravity of the situation and how big it was, and I wouldn't necessarily expect that our rivers would rise so quickly," said Rebeca Gutierrez, 29. "Hopefully there's preventative efforts happening in similar areas to make sure nothing to this degree happens." - Two-story building - In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins as girls at the camp slept. Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water. Volunteers were helping search through debris from the river, with some motivated by personal connections to the victims. "We're helping the parents of two of the missing children," Louis Deppe, 62, told AFP. "The last message they got was 'We're being washed away,' and the phone went dead." Months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours on Thursday night into Friday, and rain has continued in bouts since then. The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight meters) - more than a two-story building - in just 45 minutes. Flash floods occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall. Human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense in recent years.
TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Hopes fade for Texas flood victims as death toll tops 95
Search teams plodded through muddy riverbanks and flew aircraft over a flood-ravaged central Texas landscape on Monday as hopes dimmed for finding more survivors among dozens missing from a disaster that has claimed at least 96 lives, many of them children. Three days after a torrential predawn downpour transformed the Guadalupe River into a raging, killer torrent, a Christian girls' summer camp devastated by the flash flood confirmed 27 campers and counsellors were among those who had died. On Monday officials said 10 girls and a camp counsellor were unaccounted for as search and rescue personnel faced the potential of more heavy rains and thunderstorms while clawing through muck-laden debris. Most of the death toll from Friday's flooding was concentrated in and around the riverfront Hill Country town of Kerrville, including the ill-fated grounds of Camp Mystic. By Monday afternoon the bodies of 84 flood victims — 56 adults and 28 children — were recovered in Kerr County, most in the county seat of Kerrville, according to the local sheriff. As of midday on Sunday, state and local officials said 12 other flood-related fatalities had been confirmed across five neighbouring south-central Texas counties, and 41 other people were listed as missing outside Kerr County. The New York Times, one many news media outlets publishing varying death tolls on Monday, reported at least 104 people had been killed across the entire flood zone.
