Death toll in Texas floods rises to 78
In Kerr County, home to Camp Mystic and other youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said.
He pledged to keep searching in that Hill Country region until 'everybody is found" from Friday's flash floods.
10 other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials.
The death toll is certain to rise over the next few days, said Col. Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.
Rescuers dealt with broken trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris in the difficult task of finding survivors.
People climb over debris on a bridge atop the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Ingram, Texas (Source: Associated Press)
Families were allowed to look around the camp Sunday morning while nearby crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches out of the water as they searched along a riverbank. Thunder rumbled from a new storm.
A woman and a teenage girl, both wearing rubber waders, briefly went inside one of the cabins, which stood next to a pile of soaked mattresses, a storage trunk and clothes.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including deadly Texas floods, Australian woman attacked by a lion, and Elon Musk's new political party. (Source: 1News)
At one point, the pair doubled over, sobbing before they embraced.
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With each passing hour, the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak. Volunteers and some families of the missing who drove to the disaster zone searched the riverbanks despite being asked not to do so.
People react as they inspect an area outside sleeping quarters at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (Source: Associated Press)
Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made.
US President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County, activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Texas.
The president said he would likely visit Friday. "I would have done it today, but we'd just be in their way," he told reporters before boarding Air Force One back to Washington after spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
"It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible."
The destructive, fast-moving waters rose eight metres on the river in only 45 minutes before daybreak Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. The danger was not over as flash flood watches remained in effect and more rain fell in central Texas on Sunday.
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Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads.
Officials said more than 850 people were rescued in the first 36 hours.
Prayers in Texas — and from the Vatican
Governor Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will work around the clock and said new areas were being searched as the water receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state.
"I urge every Texan to join me in prayer this Sunday — for the lives lost, for those still missing, for the recovery of our communities, and for the safety of those on the front lines,' he said in a statement.
In Rome, Pope Leo XIV offered special prayers for those touched by the disaster.
History's first American pope spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon blessing, 'I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp, in the disaster caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States. We pray for them.'
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The hills along the Guadalupe River are dotted with century-old youth camps and campgrounds where generations of families have come to swim and enjoy the outdoors.
Harrowing escapes from floodwaters
Survivors shared terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as rampaging floodwaters carried trees and cars past them. Others fled to attics inside their homes, praying the water wouldn't reach them.
At Camp Mystic, a cabin full of girls held onto a rope strung by rescuers as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs.
Among those confirmed dead were an 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic, and the director of another camp up the road.
Locals know the area as 'flash flood alley' but the flooding in the middle of the night caught many campers and residents by surprise even though there were warnings.
Warnings came before the disaster
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The National Weather Service on Thursday advised of potential flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger.
At the Mo-Ranch Camp in the community of Hunt, officials had been monitoring the weather and opted to move several hundred campers and attendees at a church youth conference to higher ground.
At nearby Camps Rio Vista and Sierra Vista, organisers also had mentioned on social media that they were watching the weather the day before ending their second summer session Thursday.
Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area.
US Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes the ravaged area, acknowledged that there would be second-guessing and finger-pointing as people look for someone to blame.
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Otago Daily Times
16 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Search teams scour Texas flood zone
Search teams in the United States plodded through mud-laden riverbanks and flew aircraft over the flood-stricken landscape of central Texas for a fourth day on Monday, looking for dozens of people still missing from a disaster that has claimed at least 78 lives. The bulk of the death toll from Friday's flash floods was concentrated in the riverfront Hill Country Texas town of Kerrville, accounting for 68 of the dead, including 28 children, according to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha. The Guadalupe River, transformed by predawn torrential downpours into a raging, killer torrent in less than hour, runs directly through Kerrville. The loss of life there included an unspecified number of fatalities at the Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe where authorities reported two dozen children unaccounted for in the immediate aftermath of the flooding on Friday. On Sunday, Leitha said search teams were still looking for 10 girls and one camp counsellor, but did not specify the fate of others initially counted as missing. As of late Sunday afternoon, state officials said 10 other flood-related fatalities were confirmed across four neighbouring south-central Texas counties, and that 41 other people were still listed as unaccounted for in the disaster beyond Kerr County. Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, predicted the death toll would rise further as floodwaters receded and the search gained momentum. Authorities also warned that continued rainfall - even if lighter than Friday's deluge - could unleash additional flash floods because the landscape was so saturated. State emergency management officials had warned on Thursday, ahead of the July Fourth holiday, that parts of central Texas faced the possibility of heavy showers and flash floods based on National Weather Service Forecasts. CONFLUENCE OF DISASTER But twice as much rain as was predicted ended up falling over two branches of the Guadalupe just upstream of the fork where they converge, sending all of that water racing into the single river channel where it slices through Kerrville, according to City Manager Dalton Rice. Rice and other public officials, including Governor Greg Abbott, vowed that the circumstances of the flooding, and the adequacy for weather forecasts and warning systems would be scrutinized once the immediate situation was brought under control. In the meantime, search and rescue operations were continuing around the clock, with hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground contending with a myriad of challenges. "It's hot, there's mud, they're moving debris, there's snakes," Martin said during a news briefing on Sunday. Thomas Suelzar, adjutant general of the Texas Military Department, said airborne search assets included eight helicopters and a remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper aircraft equipped with advanced sensors for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Officials said on Saturday that more than 850 people had been rescued, some clinging to trees, after a sudden storm dumped up to 38cm of rain across the region, about 140km northwest of San Antonio. In addition to the 68 lives lost in Kerr County, three died in Burnet County, one in Tom Green County, five in Travis County and one in Williamson County, according to Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was activated on Sunday and was deploying resources to Texas after President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the Department of Homeland Security said. US Coast Guard helicopters and planes were aiding search and rescue efforts. SCALING BACK FEDERAL DISASTER RESPONSE Trump, who said on Sunday he would visit the disaster scene, probably this coming Friday, 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 National Weather Service's parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, former NOAA director Rick Spinrad said. Ahead of Friday's floods, the Weather Service office near San Antonio, which oversees warnings issued in Kerr County, had one key vacancy - a warning coordination meteorologist, who is responsible for working with emergency managers and the public to ensure people know what to do when a disaster strikes. The person who served in that role for decades was among hundreds of Weather Service employees who accepted early retirement offers and left the agency at the end of April, media reported. Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts hobbled the disaster response or left key job vacancies at the Weather Service under Trump's oversight. "That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup," he said referencing his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. "But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is 100-year catastrophe."
1News
a day ago
- 1News
Death toll in Texas floods rises to 78
The death toll from flash floods that rampaged through Central Texas rose to at least 78 overnight as rescuers manoeuvring through challenging terrain found more bodies and continued their desperate search for many others, including 11 missing girls from a summer camp. In Kerr County, home to Camp Mystic and other youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said. He pledged to keep searching in that Hill Country region until 'everybody is found" from Friday's flash floods. 10 other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials. The death toll is certain to rise over the next few days, said Col. Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety. ADVERTISEMENT Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing. Rescuers dealt with broken trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris in the difficult task of finding survivors. People climb over debris on a bridge atop the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Ingram, Texas (Source: Associated Press) Families were allowed to look around the camp Sunday morning while nearby crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches out of the water as they searched along a riverbank. Thunder rumbled from a new storm. A woman and a teenage girl, both wearing rubber waders, briefly went inside one of the cabins, which stood next to a pile of soaked mattresses, a storage trunk and clothes. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including deadly Texas floods, Australian woman attacked by a lion, and Elon Musk's new political party. (Source: 1News) At one point, the pair doubled over, sobbing before they embraced. ADVERTISEMENT With each passing hour, the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak. Volunteers and some families of the missing who drove to the disaster zone searched the riverbanks despite being asked not to do so. People react as they inspect an area outside sleeping quarters at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (Source: Associated Press) Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made. US President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County, activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Texas. The president said he would likely visit Friday. "I would have done it today, but we'd just be in their way," he told reporters before boarding Air Force One back to Washington after spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. "It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible." The destructive, fast-moving waters rose eight metres on the river in only 45 minutes before daybreak Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. The danger was not over as flash flood watches remained in effect and more rain fell in central Texas on Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. Officials said more than 850 people were rescued in the first 36 hours. Prayers in Texas — and from the Vatican Governor Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will work around the clock and said new areas were being searched as the water receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state. "I urge every Texan to join me in prayer this Sunday — for the lives lost, for those still missing, for the recovery of our communities, and for the safety of those on the front lines,' he said in a statement. In Rome, Pope Leo XIV offered special prayers for those touched by the disaster. History's first American pope spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon blessing, 'I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp, in the disaster caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States. We pray for them.' ADVERTISEMENT The hills along the Guadalupe River are dotted with century-old youth camps and campgrounds where generations of families have come to swim and enjoy the outdoors. Harrowing escapes from floodwaters Survivors shared terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as rampaging floodwaters carried trees and cars past them. Others fled to attics inside their homes, praying the water wouldn't reach them. At Camp Mystic, a cabin full of girls held onto a rope strung by rescuers as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs. Among those confirmed dead were an 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic, and the director of another camp up the road. Locals know the area as 'flash flood alley' but the flooding in the middle of the night caught many campers and residents by surprise even though there were warnings. Warnings came before the disaster ADVERTISEMENT The National Weather Service on Thursday advised of potential flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger. At the Mo-Ranch Camp in the community of Hunt, officials had been monitoring the weather and opted to move several hundred campers and attendees at a church youth conference to higher ground. At nearby Camps Rio Vista and Sierra Vista, organisers also had mentioned on social media that they were watching the weather the day before ending their second summer session Thursday. Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area. US Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes the ravaged area, acknowledged that there would be second-guessing and finger-pointing as people look for someone to blame.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Texas flood death toll reaches 78
The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas has reached at least 78, including at least 28 children, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp entered a third day and fears of more flash flooding as rain fell on saturated ground prompted fresh evacuations. Larry Leitha, the Kerr County Sheriff in Texas Hill Country, said today 68 people had died in flooding in his county, the epicenter of the flooding, among them 28 children. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, speaking at a press conference on Sunday afternoon, said another 10 had died elsewhere in Texas and 41 confirmed missing. The governor did not say how many of the dead outside Kerr were children. Among the most devastating impacts of the flooding occurred at Camp Mystic summer camp, a nearly century-old Christian girls camp. Sheriff Leitha said on Sunday (local time) that 10 Camp Mystic campers and one counselor were still missing. "It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through," said Abbott, who said 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 Kiddsaid at the press conference on Sunday afternoon 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," said Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, also speaking on Sunday. Officials said on Saturday that 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. "Everyone in the community is hurting," Leitha said. A WALL OF WATER Kidd said he was receiving unconfirmed reports of "an additional wall of water" flowing down some of the creeks in the Guadalupe Rivershed, as rain continued to fall on soil in the region already saturated from Friday's rains. He said aircraft were sent aloft to scout for additional floodwaters, while search-and-rescue personnel who might be in harm's way were alerted to pull back from the river in the meantime. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings and advisories for central Texas that were to last until 4.15pm (local time) as rains fell, potentially complicating rescue efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was activated on Sunday and is deploying resources to first responders in Texas after President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. US Coast Guard helicopters and planes are helping the search and rescue efforts, the department said. SCALING BACK FEDERAL DISASTER RESPONSE Trump, who said on Sunday he would visit the disaster scene, probably on Friday, 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 National Weather Service's parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving many weather offices understaffed, former NOAA director Rick Spinrad said. Spinrad 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 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. Joaquin Castro, a Democratic US congressman from Texas, told CNN's State of the Union program 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 said. 'COMPLETE DEVASTATION' Camp Mystic had 700 girls in residence at the time of the flooding. 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 tippity top of hills were completely flooded with water. I mean, y'all have seen the complete devastation, we never even imagined that this could happen," Somerville said in an interview on Fox News. Somerville said the campers in her care were put on military trucks and evacuated, and that 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 was a scene of devastation. Inside one cabin, mud lines indicating how high the water had risen were at least 1.83m 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.
