Search for woman who texted 'we're being washed away' in Texas flood
As the raging Guadalupe River burst its banks and wreaked havoc in central Texas, a young woman named Joyce Bandon sent a text message that may have been her last.
Triggering one of many frantic search efforts, Bandon pleaded for help from a house along the river, according to Louis Deppe, leader of a group of volunteers trying to help the Bandon family find their daughter.
Torrential rains starting the night before the Independence Day holiday caused the river to rise the height of a two-story building in less than hour, flooding parts of Kerr County, including several children's camps, tearing down trees and tossing cars as if they were toys.
The death toll as of Sunday afternoon was at least 78, with more casualties expected.
Bandon and three friends had gone to a country house to spend the July 4 holiday together.
It rained all Thursday night into Friday morning, when disaster struck.
"Their house collapsed at about 4 in the morning and they were being washed away. On her cellphone, the last message (her family) got was 'we're being washed away' and the phone went dead," Deppe told AFP.
He said the team works in groups of two or three people as they look through the debris and detritus left behind by the deluge.
"One of the bodies was 8 to 10 feet in a tree, surrounded up by so much debris. Not one person could see it, so the more eyes, the better," he added.
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The Citizen
14 hours ago
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Children's camp confirms 27 dead, with Texas flood toll over 80
Flash floods in Texas claimed over 80 lives, including 27 girls and counselors at Camp Mystic. Rescue efforts continue. A volunteer looks for missing people, following severe flash flooding that occured during the July 4 holiday weekend, in Hunt, Texas, on July 6, 2025. Rescuers in Texas raced against time Sunday to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed at least 59, as forecasters warned of new deluges. Local Texans joined forces with disaster officials to search through the night for the missing, including 27 girls from a riverside Christian summer camp. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Camp Mystic on the banks of the Guadalupe River, where some 750 girls had been staying when the floodwaters hit, had been 'horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster.' (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) Rescuers in the US state of Texas on Monday searched for bodies swept away by flash floods that killed more than 80 people, including 27 girls and counselors at a summer camp. The nation was shocked at the disaster over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, and forecasters warned that thunderstorms threatened more flooding over saturated ground. 'Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding,' the camp said in a statement. 'Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy.' US President Donald Trump said he may visit Texas later this week, but brushed off concerns his cuts to weather forecasting and related federal agencies had weakened warning systems. ALSO READ: These two provinces need R160 million to fix damaged healthcare facilities Instead, he described the floods in the early hours of Friday as a '100-year catastrophe' that 'nobody expected.' At least 40 adults and 28 children were killed in the worst-hit Kerr County in central Texas, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Sunday, while at least 13 more people were killed by flooding in nearby areas. The death toll is expected to rise. Grim search Trump, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state level, signed a major disaster declaration, activating fresh funds and freeing up resources. About 20 helicopters were taking part in the search for missing people in an area popular with campers that also hosted several summer camps for children. Camp Mystic, one of the worst-hit, was an all-girl Christian camp where about 750 people had been staying with the floodwaters struck. ALSO READ: Malema promises urgent aid for Mthatha flood victims, calls on the wealthy to help 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. Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned that more heavy rainfall could bring further flooding in Kerrville and surrounding areas, as officials cautioned people against going near still-raging rivers. 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. ALSO READ: WATCH: Bad weather and floods wreak havoc in Cape Town Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in this region of south and central Texas, known colloquially as 'Flash Flood Alley.' Human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense in recent years. 'There's debris all over the place that makes roads impassable, that makes reconstruction projects unachievable,' Abbott said. People from elsewhere in the state converged on Kerr County to help look for the missing. Some residents also flew personal drones to help look, but officials urged them to stop, citing a danger to rescue aircraft. NOW READ: Eastern Cape floods: Here's how much victims will be given to rebuild their homes – By: © Agence France-Presse
IOL News
a day ago
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Search for woman who texted 'we're being washed away' in Texas flood
Members of a rescue team look for missing people on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, following severe flash flooding that occured during the July 4 holiday weekend. As the raging Guadalupe River burst its banks and wreaked havoc in central Texas, a young woman named Joyce Bandon sent a text message that may have been her last. Triggering one of many frantic search efforts, Bandon pleaded for help from a house along the river, according to Louis Deppe, leader of a group of volunteers trying to help the Bandon family find their daughter. Torrential rains starting the night before the Independence Day holiday caused the river to rise the height of a two-story building in less than hour, flooding parts of Kerr County, including several children's camps, tearing down trees and tossing cars as if they were toys. The death toll as of Sunday afternoon was at least 78, with more casualties expected. Bandon and three friends had gone to a country house to spend the July 4 holiday together. It rained all Thursday night into Friday morning, when disaster struck. "Their house collapsed at about 4 in the morning and they were being washed away. On her cellphone, the last message (her family) got was 'we're being washed away' and the phone went dead," Deppe told AFP. He said the team works in groups of two or three people as they look through the debris and detritus left behind by the deluge. "One of the bodies was 8 to 10 feet in a tree, surrounded up by so much debris. Not one person could see it, so the more eyes, the better," he added.
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- TimesLIVE
Death toll from Texas floods reaches 78; Trump plans visit
The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas reached at least 78 on Sunday, including 28 children, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp continued and fears of more flooding prompted evacuations of volunteer responders. Larry Leitha, sheriff of Kerr County in Texas Hill Country, said 68 people had died in flooding in his county, the epicentre of the flooding, among them 28 children. Texas governor Greg Abbott, speaking at a press conference on Sunday afternoon, said another 10 died elsewhere in Texas and confirmed 41 were missing. US President Donald Trump sent his condolences to the victims and said he would probably visit the area on Friday. His administration had been in touch with Abbott, he added. "It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible. God bless all the people who have gone through so much, and God bless the state of Texas," he told reporters as he left New Jersey. Among the most devastating impacts of the flooding occurred at Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls camp where 10 campers and one counselor were missing, according to Leitha. "It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through," said Abbott, who noted he toured the area on Saturday and pledged to continue efforts to locate the missing. The flooding occurred after the nearby Guadalupe River broke its banks after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday, the US Independence Day holiday. Texas division of emergency management chief Nim Kidd said the destruction killed three people in Burnet County, one in Tom Green County, five in Travis County and one in Williamson County. "You will see the death toll rise today and tomorrow," Freeman Martin, director of the Texas department of public safety, said on Sunday. Officials said on Saturday more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 38cm of rain across the region, about 140km northwest of San Antonio. Kidd said he was receiving unconfirmed reports of "an additional wall of water" flowing down creeks in the Guadalupe River shed as rain continued to fall on soil in the region saturated from Friday's rains. "We're evacuating parts of the river because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in the areas," he said, referencing volunteers from outside the area seeking to help locate victims. The federal emergency management agency (Fema) was activated on Sunday and is deploying resources to first responders in Texas after Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the department of homeland security said. US coast guard helicopters and planes were aiding search and rescue efforts. Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves. Some experts questioned whether cuts to the federal workforce by the Trump administration, including to the agency that oversees the national weather service, led to a failure by officials to accurately predict the severity of the floods and issue appropriate warnings ahead of the storm. Trump's administration has overseen thousands of job cuts from the weather Service's parent agency, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA), leaving many weather offices understaffed, said former NOAA director Rick Spinrad. Spinrad said he did not know if the staff cuts factored into the lack of advance warning for the extreme Texas flooding, but they would inevitably degrade the agency's ability to deliver accurate and timely forecasts. Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts hobbled the disaster response or left key job vacancies at the national weather service under his oversight. "That water situation was the Biden setup," he said, referencing his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden. "But I wouldn't blame Biden for it either. I would say this is a 100-year catastrophe." He declined to answer a question about Fema, saying only: "They're working, so we'll leave it at that." Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees Fema and NOAA, said a "moderate" flood watch issued on Thursday by the national weather service had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system. Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from Texas, told CNN's State of the Union programme that fewer personnel at the weather service could be dangerous. "When you have flash flooding, there's a risk that if you don't have the personnel to do the analysis, do the predictions in the best way, it could lead to tragedy," Castro said. Rescuers paddle an inflatable boat as they search along a waterway after flash flooding, in Kerrville, Texas, on July 6 2025. Image: REUTERS/Marco Bello Katharine Somerville, a counselor on the Cypress Lake side of Camp Mystic, on higher ground than the Guadalupe River side, said her 13-year-old campers were scared as their cabins sustained damage and lost power in the middle of the night. "Our cabins at the top of hills were completely flooded with water. You have seen the complete devastation. We never even imagined this could happen," Somerville said in an interview on Fox News on Sunday. She said the campers in her care were put on military trucks and evacuated, and all were safe. The disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier than forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 9m. A day after the disaster struck, the summer camp, where 700 girls were in residence at the time of the flooding, was a scene of devastation. Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least 1.83 m from the floor. Bed frames, mattresses and personal belongings caked with mud were scattered inside. Some buildings had broken windows, one had a missing wall.
