Search for Texas flood victims enters third day, with more rain forecast
Local officials warned the number of dead will likely rise and were due to give an update on Sunday morning, as 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 U.S. Independence Day holiday.
Officials said 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 Texas Hill Country, about 85 miles (140 km) northwest of San Antonio. It was unclear exactly how many people in the area were still missing.
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.
President 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 Spinrad.
He said he did not know if those staff cuts factored into the lack of advance warning for the extreme Texas flooding, but said they would inevitably degrade the agency's ability to deliver accurate and timely forecasts.
Homeland 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 system.
More rain was expected in the area on Sunday. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County, the epicenter of the disaster, until 1 p.m. local time.
The 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. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Trump would honor that request.
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.
At least 15 of the confirmed dead are children, local officials said. The 27 missing girls 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 meters) 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.
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The Latest: Camp mourns loss of 27 in Texas flash floods that killed dozens
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Texas camp confirms flood deaths of 27 girls and staff in ‘unimaginable tragedy'
A private Christian summer camp for girls in Texas, Camp Mystic, is mourning the loss of 27 campers and counsellors following catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River. Flash floods struck south-central Texas at the start of the holiday weekend, claiming at least 82 lives across Kerr County and surrounding areas. Rescue efforts were in full force over the weekend and into Monday as emergency crews searched for missing people from Camp Mystic and other affected areas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott visited the devastated camp, describing it as "horrendously ravaged" and vowing to continue search operations until all missing girls were found. The region is bracing for further heavy rainfall, with reports of an additional "wall of water" heading towards Kerr County, which could complicate ongoing search and recovery efforts.
Sky News
an hour ago
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Texas flooding live: Dead cattle found in trees as search goes on for missing; 'American hero' praised for 'saving 165'
15:00:01 Explained: Why did deadly Texas floods catch people by surprise? Questions have been raised over extreme weather warnings in Texas after the fatal flooding. Local and federal officials have been criticised over flood preparations, and why people were not warned of the risks sooner. Private forecasting company AccuWeather said it and the National Weather Service (NWS) sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before it began, urging people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas. The NWS also issued flash flood emergencies - a rare alert notifying of imminent danger - at 4.23am local time. In a statement, AccuWeather said that "these warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety". It also called Texas Hill County one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the US because of its terrain and many water crossings. However, Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas division of emergency management, said that one NWS forecast earlier in the week had predicted up to six inches of rain. "It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw," he added. 14:30:01 Cattle and livestock found on top of trees after '26ft wall of water' The Texas agriculture commissioner says there's been no time to start calculating the damage done to the farm industry during floods. Sid Miller told Fox News that cattle and livestock have been found "on the tops of trees" following the deadly flooding. "We've lost hundreds of miles of fencing, barns, all kinds of buildings, structures," he said. "We are still so focused on search and rescue of the over 40 people that are still unaccounted for, that we haven't even had time to start calculating about the agriculture loss." "But it's been devastating," he added. "It's a 26ft wall of water, 3am in the morning... caught everybody off guard." 14:00:01 What you need to know It's just gone 8am in central Texas, where search efforts have moved into a fourth day for dozens of people still missing following flash floods. If you're just joining us, here's everything you need to know: Heavy rainfall in the early hours of Friday morning saw water burst from the banks of the Guadalupe River in central Texas; Water rose more than 26ft (8m) in less than an hour, causing immediate widespread damage; So far, at least 82 people have been killed - including 27 at a girls' summer camp that saw some of the worst of the flooding; Among those killed were campers as young as eight, a camp counsellor and the camp's director; At least 41 people are still missing, including 10 girls from the camp; Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration yesterday and says he will "probably" visit Texas on Friday; More heavy rain is expected in the region over the next two days, with flood alerts in place until 7pm local time today. 13:29:08 'We just saw an ocean': 11-year-old recalls campsite flooding 'crisis' before he was rescued Kaelan Kubena was among the some 400 campers at Camp La Junta, an all-boys summer camp in central Texas, at the time of the flooding. "We looked outside and we just saw like an ocean out there," the 11-year-old from San Diego told NBC Los Angeles. Heavy rain kept most of the boys awake early Friday morning, he said, and later camp counsellors took them to higher ground for safety when the camp grounds began to flood. "We saw like a whole cabin just floating down, and that's when we knew like those things were getting actually real out there. "We were starting to realise that this was a real natural disaster crisis." 13:10:01 Watch: Moment house swept away by floods Homes have been washed out and vehicles swept away by the flooding along the Guadalupe River in Texas. The scenes of destruction continue for miles, with dozens of people still unaccounted for. 12:40:01 Where have people died? The number of people killed in the floods currently stands at 82, but officials have warned this figure is likely to rise as rescuers work to recover bodies. Most of the deaths so far have been in Kerr County, where at least 27 people died at Camp Mystic. Here are the deaths per county: Kerr: 68 Williamson: 1 Burnet: 4 Tom Green: 1 Travis County: 6 Kendall: 2 12:10:01 Coast Guard rescue swimmer hailed as 'American hero' for helping to save 165 people A US Coast Guard rescue swimmer has been hailed as a hero for helping to save 165 people from flooding in Texas, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official. Scott Ruskan was among the Coast Guard members deployed after Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration yesterday. He was in charge of triage at Camp Mystic, the girls' summer camp that saw some of the worst of the flooding. "He is an American hero whose selfless courage embodies the spirit and mission of the USCG," DHS said. It was the first rescue mission of Ruskan's career, DHS boss Kristi Noem said in a post on X, as she also hailed the 26-year-old as "an American hero". She said Ruskan "directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas". Speaking to the New York Post, Ruskan played down his efforts. "Honestly, I'm mostly just a dude. I'm just doing a job," he said. "This is what I signed up for, and I think that any single Coast Guard rescue swimmer or any single Coast Guard pilot, flight mechanic, whoever it may be, would have done the exact same thing in our situation." 11:40:01 What has Trump said? Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration yesterday for Kerr County, calling the flash flooding in Texas "absolutely horrible". The US president said the declaration would ensure first responders "immediately have the resources they need". He said Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, would continue to be in Texas, adding he would "probably" visit on Friday. "We want to leave a little time," he told reporters. "I would have done it today, but we would just be in their way, probably Friday." 'Nobody expected it' The Trump administration has come in for scrutiny for its recent cuts to the National Weather Service, with some 600 employees laid off by the start of June. Some Texas officials complained that NWS forecasts underestimated the rainfall on Friday, suggesting Trump's cuts were partially to blame. A White House spokesperson said the accusations were "disgusting". Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, Trump was asked if he was investigating whether cuts to the federal government left key vacancies at the NWS or in emergency coordination. "They didn't," he said. "This was the thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it; nobody saw it. Very talented people are there, and they didn't see it." Trump was also asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and said it was "something we can talk about later". 11:10:01 Where did flooding start? As much as 10ins (25cm) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County on Friday, causing the banks of the Guadalupe River to burst at around 4am local time. Texans' homes and vehicles were swept away by the downpour - equivalent to months' worth of rain. It appears that moisture from the remnants of tropical storm Barry, which affected southeast Mexico, aided the storms over Texas, leading to the significant flooding. They lingered over the area, with the National Weather Service reporting 10-15 inches of rain fell in some spots. The Guadalupe River at Comfort, downstream of Kerrville, rose extremely quickly - with data suggesting it rose by over 26 feet in around 45 minutes. 10:46:26 Flood watch to stay in place for central Texas As we've mentioned, the National Weather Service has kept flood warnings in place across central Texas due to more heavy rain forecast. The warnings, which include rainfall of between two and four inches, rising up to 10 inches in some locations, are in place until 7pm local time (1am UK time) for San Antonio, Austin and the devastated Kerr County. The NWS said it was "difficult to pinpoint exact locations where isolated heavier amounts will occur". It said that an "uptick in coverage and intensity of scattered showers and storms" is possible overnight near the route of Interstate 35, a major north-south highway that runs through Texas.
