At least 27 are dead after a catastrophic Texas flood. Search continues for missing girls from summer camp.
Over two dozen girls from a summer camp remain missing.
The director of another camp was among those killed in the flood, according to the camp's website.
On what should have been a festive Fourth of July, disaster struck in Central Texas.
Extreme flooding left at least 27 dead in Kerr County, and as many as 25 children are missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp along the Guadalupe River.
President Donald Trump said his administration is working with state and local officials to respond to the flooding. On Truth Social, Trump said Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem would arrive in Texas "shortly."
"Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy," Trump wrote on Saturday. "Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!"
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a press conference on Saturday morning that there were 27 confirmed fatalities in Kerr County after torrential rains early Friday morning, but that he expected that numbers to rise.
As much as 12 inches of rain fell in the county on Friday, with additional rainfall anticipated this evening, officials said. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 4 a.m.
As rain continues to fall, a desperate search is underway for those who may have been swept away by the floodwaters.
Officials said Saturday during a press conference that there were more than two dozen people still missing, at least.
Camp Mystic, located in Hunt, Texas, has about 750 campers. At least 25 girls remained unaccounted for on Saturday, officials said.
"That does not mean they've been lost," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said at an earlier press conference Friday afternoon. "They could be in a tree. They could be out of communication. We're praying for all those missing to be found alive."
In a statement posted to its website, the Heart O' the Hills, another girls' camp based in Hunt, said its director, Jane Ragsdale, had died in the floods.
"We have received word that Jane Ragsdale did not make it," it said. "We are mourning the loss of a woman who influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful."
It added that the camp was not in session as the flooding hit, and that "most of those who were on camp at the time have been accounted for and are on high ground."
Patrick said during the afternoon press conference that the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes.
During the Friday night news conference, which was live-streamed on Facebook, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called upon God and the community.
"It needs God, but also needs a robust response by the state and local governments, and by people who live in these communities impacted," he said. "We had a meeting with officials at the state and local level, and there is extraordinary collaboration to make sure that we are going to address everybody's concern as quickly as we possibly can."
Camp Mystic welcomes girls once they've completed second grade. In the Guadalupe River camp group, girls can enroll in one of three sessions, each lasting either two or four weeks. The sessions run from May 30 to August 10, with dates divided across the summer.
On Facebook, parents and community members have circulated flyers with contact numbers, urging the public to help locate the missing children.
An 8-year-old from Dallas is among the missing. Her mother told WFAA News on Friday evening that she was traveling to reach the camp.
Kerr County has an estimated population of about 53,900, according to a 2024 counting by the US Census Bureau. The county sits in the Hill Country region of Central Texas, which includes cities like San Antonio and Austin. Beyond the Guadalupe River, the region is home to several others, including the Colorado, Concho, and Blanco Rivers.
With the county focused on locating the missing, several local cities have canceled Independence Day events.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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San Francisco Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Search for 27 missing girls plows forward after flash flood kills at least 51 people in Texas
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — The grueling, desperate search for 27 missing girls stretched into a third day on Sunday after raging floodwaters surged into a summer camp as rescuers maneuvered through challenging terrain, while Texans were asked to pray that any survivors would be found. At least 51 people, including 15 children, were killed, with most of the deaths coming in Kerr County in the state's Hill Country. Besides the 43 dead in Kerr County, four deaths were reported in Travis, three in Burnet and 1 in Kendall. Rescuers dealt with broken trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris in a difficult task to find survivors. Authorities still have not said how many people were missing beyond the children from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered. The destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the river in only 45 minutes before daybreak Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. The danger was not over as at least one flash flood warning remained in effect in central Texas on Sunday. 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. Gov. 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. 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.' Authorities were coming under scrutiny over whether the camps and residents in places long vulnerable to flooding received proper warning and whether enough preparations were made. 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. The area is especially popular around the Independence Day holiday, making it more difficult to know how many are missing. 'We don't even want to begin to estimate at this time,' Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said earlier. Raging storm hit the camp in the middle of the night 'The camp was completely destroyed,' said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers. 'A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.' The raging storm, fueled by massive amounts of moisture, woke up her cabin just after midnight Friday. When rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs, she said. Frantic parents and families posted photos of missing loved ones and pleas for information. 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. The flooding in the middle of the night caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. 'These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety,' AccuWeather said in a statement. It called the Hill Country one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the U.S. because of its terrain and many water crossings. 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, organizers 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. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes the ravaged area, called it a once-in-a-century flood and acknowledged that there would be second-guessing and finger-pointing as people look for someone to blame. Helicopters and drones used in frantic search Officials said more than 850 people were rescued in the last 36 hours, with heroic efforts at the camps to save children. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived and pledged that the Trump administration would use all available resources. Coast Guard helicopters and planes were assisting to ensure operations continued even in darkness. One reunification center at an elementary school was mostly quiet after taking in hundreds of evacuees the day before. 'We still have people coming here looking for their loved ones. We've had a little success, but not much,' said Bobby Templeton, superintendent of Ingram Independent School District. People clung to trees and fled to attics In Ingram, Erin Burgess awoke to thunder and rain in the middle of the night. Only 20 minutes later, water poured into her home, she said, describing an agonizing hour clinging to a tree with her teen son. '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. Barry Adelman said water pushed everyone in his three-story house into the attic, including his 94-year-old grandmother and 9-year-old grandson. 'I was having to look at my grandson in the face and tell him everything was going to be OK, but inside I was scared to death,' he said. Locals know the area as ' flash flood alley.' 'When it rains, water doesn't soak into the soil,' said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations. 'It rushes down the hill.' 'Nobody saw this coming' The weekend forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight Friday for at least 30,000 people. 'We know we get rains. We know the river rises. But nobody saw this coming,' said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county's chief elected official. The county had considered a flood warning system on the river similar to a tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, but Kelly said the idea never got off the ground and the cost would have been an issue. Kelly said he was heartbroken seeing body bags at the funeral home and the devastation on the ground during a helicopter tour. 'The rescue has gone as well as can be expected. It's getting time now for the recovery,' he said. 'And that's going to be a long, toilsome task for us.' ___
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US efforts to predict weather hit by staffing cuts: ex-NOAA chief
STORY: :: A former NOAA chief says the U.S. has compromised its ability to predict the weather after deep staffing cuts :: July 5, 2025 :: Falls Church, Virginia :: Rick Spinrad, Former administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration "A lot of the weather forecast offices now are not operating at full complement of staff, which means that you're really putting an extra burden on these folks. I don't know how much that was a factor in what happened in Texas this weekend." :: Kerrville, Texas "Without research, without staff to do the work, we can assume that the predictions, and not just hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, drought, wildfires, tsunamis, for that matter, are undoubtedly going to degrade. And that means that people's ability to prepare for these storms will be compromised..." ::Georgetown, Texas ::Adam Grumbo "Pick your favorite football team... now imagine that team has, instead of 11 players, has eight players. They're going to lose no matter how good they are. They can't do the job of the full team. And that's what's happening at NOAA is these are outstanding scientists, wonderful technicians, terrific policy folks, but if we don't have enough of them doing the job, then something falls off the table." The Trump administration has axed thousands of jobs from NOAA, the National Weather Service's parent agency, leaving many weather offices understaffed, according to 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.
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Texas flood deaths pass 50 with more bad weather expected
More than 50 people have died and dozens of children are missing in Texas Hill Country after catastrophic flooding, leaving officials struggling to explain if they had done enough to warn people of the fast-rising waters. At least 27 campers from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, remain unaccounted for, officials said at a briefing. They said they are maintaining that number even as more bodies were discovered. Of the dead in Kerr County, 28 were adults and 15 were children. At least eight others have died in nearby counties. Authorities are warning the casualty count will climb as more rain is forecast, increasing the risk of further flash floods in the coming days. Officials declined to give a figure for the total number of people missing, in part because so many visitors came to the area to camp during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The flood took Texas officials by surprise. Thunderstorms, combined with the remnants of short-lived Tropical Storm Barry, produced much more rain than had been forecast. "This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States. And we deal with floods on a regular basis," Kerr County Judge Robert Kelly told reporters. "We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever." The Guadalupe River surged 26 feet in just 45 minutes, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said at a briefing Friday. The National Weather Service had predicted only three to six inches of rain in the area. Gov. Greg Abbott expressed gratitude to the first responders who had poured into the area, and said the search for survivors continues. At a news conference earlier on Saturday, Abbott, flanked by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, thanked the federal government for providing assistance. Abbott later said in a post on X that he visited Camp Mystic on Saturday. Mystic is one of several youth camps in the Hill Country that cater to middle- and upper-class families from Dallas, Houston and Austin who send kids for month-long getaways at places like Camp Longhorn and Camp Waldemar. Authorities were able to confirm that no other camps have missing children. When the unexpected deluge hit Friday, there were about 750 children at Camp Mystic, which is about 85 miles (137 kilometers) northwest of San Antonio. The Hill Country sprawls across all or part of more than 20 counties in central Texas, with booming Austin and San Antonio on the region's eastern fringe driving a transformation from ranchland to suburbia. The camp and "the river running beside it, were horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster," Abbott wrote. "The height the rushing water reached to the top of cabins was shocking. We won't stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins." President Donald Trump said in a social media post that federal officials are working with state and local counterparts. "Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best," Trump wrote. "GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!" The National Weather Service warned of more extreme rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding in parts of the region, issuing flood watches and warnings in central Texas, including parts of Austin and San Antonio. The service also reported numerous water rescues. Climate change has driven more extreme rainfall around the world. A warmer atmosphere can hold more water, upping the odds of deluges like the one that struck Texas. Scientists haven't yet examined these floods for the fingerprints of climate change. A rapid analysis by Colorado State University climatologist Russ Schumacher shows the six-hour rainfall totals made this a 1,000-year event - that is, it had less than a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said weather predictions underestimated the severity of the storms. "The amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of the forecasts," Kidd said. The weather service "is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County," according to an emailed statement late Saturday that included a timeline of its flood-hazard outlook and warnings. Noem said federal officials will look at whether more warning could have been provided. "For decades, for years, everybody knows that the weather is extremely difficult to predict, but also that the National Weather Service, over the years, at times, has done well, and at times we have all wanted more time and more warning and more alerts and more notification," she said. Officials have rescued around 850 people, and are using helicopters, boats and drones to search for others in need of assistance, Abbott said. Many roads were washed out, limiting access to some areas. At Camp Mystic, aging bunks with names of former campers carved in the rafters sat on a slope near the river. Some were washed away by the surging waters. Its website was overloaded with visitors Saturday, according to an error message. Photos said to be of missing children spread on social media, but officials declined to release names of any of the missing. President Lyndon Johnson's daughters spent several summers at Mystic among the live oak trees and cedar brush, and former first lady Laura Bush was a Mystic counselor in college, according to Texas Monthly. Posts on a Facebook page called Kerrville Breaking News were filled with photos of people and pets said to be missing. One woman said she was trying to locate a 19-year-old counselor at Mystic. "People need to know today will be a hard day," said Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring. (Yi Wei Wong, Susanne Barton, Brian K. Sullivan and Adam Majendie contributed to this report.) 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