Texas floods kill 13; more than 20 girls missing after summer camp disaster
As reported by AP, Judge Rob Kelly, Kerr County's top elected official, confirmed fatalities. 'Most of them, we don't know who they are,' Kelly said during a news conference. "One of them was completely naked, he didn't have any ID on him at all. We're trying to get the identity of these folks, but we don't have it yet.'According to AP, Erin Burgess' home sits directly across from the river in the Bumble Bee Hills neighbourhood, west of Ingram. When she woke up to thunder at 3:30 a.m. Friday morning, 'it was raining pretty heavy, but no big deal,' she said. Just 20 minutes later, Burgess said water was coming in through the walls and rushing through the front and back doors. 'My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,' she said, becoming emotional.NO WARNING SYSTEM IN PLACEOfficials admitted the area lacks a flood warning system. Judge Kelly stated,Kelly said 'we do not have a warning system' and that 'we didn't know this flood was coming.'SUMMER CAMPS IMPACTED Parents desperately sought updates from summer camps along the river. Camp Mystic described the flooding as catastrophic and assured that families were contacted directly. Strong storms in New Jersey claimed at least three lives, including two men crushed by a falling tree. The city of Plainfield cancelled Independence Day celebrations due to the destruction. Parts of southern New England also experienced power outages, hail, and hazardous road conditions.- EndsWith inputs from AP
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India Today
40 minutes ago
- India Today
59, including 21 children, dead in Texas flooding; 850 rescued so far
The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas reached 59 on Sunday, including 21 children, law enforcement said, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp entered a third Leitha, the Kerr County Sheriff in Texas Hill Country, the epicenter of the flooding, said 11 girls and a counsellor remained missing from a camp near the Guadalupe River, which broke its banks after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday, the US Independence Day said there were 18 adults and four children still pending identification. He did not say if those 22 individuals were included in the death count of 59. Officials said on Saturday that more than 850 people had been rescued, including some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain across the region, about 85 miles (140 km) northwest of San Antonio. It was unclear exactly how many people in the area were still missing."Everyone in the community is hurting," Leitha told 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 Donald Trump and his administration have overseen thousands of job cuts from the National Weather Service's parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, said former NOAA director Rick said he did not know if those staff cuts factored into the lack of advance warning for the extreme Texas flooding, but that they would inevitably degrade the agency's ability to deliver accurate and timely Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees 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 White House did not immediately respond to a request for Castro, a Democratic congressman from Texas, told CNN's 'State of the Union' 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 that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, it could lead to tragedy," Castro RAINMore rain was expected in the area on Sunday. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County until 1 pm local disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 29 feet (9 meters).Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, told a press conference on Saturday he had asked Trump to sign a disaster declaration, which would unlock federal aid for those affected. Noem said Trump would honour that 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 11 missing girls and the counsellor were from the Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls' camp, which had 700 girls in residence at the time of the flood.A day after the disaster struck, the camp was a scene of devastation. Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least six feet (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.- EndsMust Watch
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Did cloud seeding cause Texas floods? Trump loyalist makes massive allegation amid Camp Mystic tragedy
Kandiss Taylor, a MAGA candidate running for Georgia's House seat, is facing backlash for spreading conspiracy theories about the flash floods in Texas and the tragedy that hit Camp Mystic and regions around the Guadalupe River. She suggested this week that the floods are a result of cloud seeding, tweeting: 'Fake weather. Fake hurricanes. Fake flooding. Fake. Fake. Fake.' Jody Fischer, director of flight operations for a North Dakota-based cloud seeding business, adjusts flares used for a seeding on a plane(AP) This comes as authorities confirmed that over 50 people have died in the Texas floods, including several children. At least 27 girls from Camp Mystic were still missing. Texas Governor Greg Abbott acknowledged that the summer camp, which had about 750 girls at the time floodwaters hit, was 'horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster'. Read More: Melania Trump's Texas floods post sparks outrage as she offers just two things to victims; 'You and your husband…' "The height the rushing water reached to the top of the cabins was shocking," he said in a post on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. However, Kandiss Taylor said she believes this is 'fake weather'. 'FAKE WEATHER. REAL DAMAGE. Hurricane Helene left me powerless for 16 days & caused $57K in damage. This isn't just 'climate change.' It's cloud seeding, geoengineering, & manipulation. If fake weather causes real tragedy, that's murder. Pray. Prepare. Question the narrative,' she claimed. When Taylor admitted that tragedy had struck Texas, one of her followers questioned whether she was walking back out of her earlier claims. 'I'm not walking back a thing. No one can control the way you raging liberals twist words. Brainwashed zombies," the Trump loyalist said. Her comments sparked severe backlash. 'Do your job Georgia… Is this the best you have got?' attorney Tracey Gallagher tweeted. Read More: Canyon Lake water level: Will the dam on Guadalupe River flood? Here's the latest 'Hey Texas. What do you think of this? She's running for congress as a Republican? Any thoughts?' former Rep Adam Kinzinger said. 'So the dead bodies floating in Texas are fake too? The homes ripped apart? The kids being pulled out of floodwater? You're a clown. Sit the hell down and stop embarrassing the human race. I guess not even Republicans care when Republicans are hit with natural disasters," commentator Thomas Mix posted. What is cloud seeding and does Texas do it? Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that disperses substances like silver iodide into clouds to enhance precipitation, typically rain or snow, by encouraging water droplet formation. In Texas, cloud seeding is actively practiced, covering 31 million acres in regions like the Panhandle and South Texas, using aircraft to target convective clouds from April to September, funded by local water districts to combat drought and recharge aquifers.
Deccan Herald
2 hours ago
- Deccan Herald
Search for Texas flood victims enters third day as more rain forecast, death toll rises to 43
Search and rescue teams raced to find 27 girls missing from a camp near the Guadalupe River, which broke its banks after torrential rain fell in central Texas on Friday, the US Independence Day holiday.
