Texas flooding death toll more than 100 as searches continue

UPI

17 hours ago

1 of 4 | An aerial view shows the wreckage left in the wake of the flooding in Kerr County, Texas, on Sunday. U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 helicopters have conducted multiple flights to the flooded area, rescuing 15 campers from Camp Mystic in Hunt and aiding in the evacuation of 230 people. Photo via U.S. Coast Guard | License Photo
July 7 (UPI) -- The death toll from historic flooding in Texas' Hill Country rose to 104 Monday as Camp Mystic girls summer camp confirmed 27 campers and counselors died. Several other people remain missing.
In the torrential rainfall that began early Thursday, the Guadalupe River in Kerr County rose 20 feet in just two hours, 65 miles north of San Antonio and 101 miles west of Austin. Hunt, where the girls camp is located near Kerrville, received about 6.5 inches in three hours early Friday.
And the area was hit with more rain over the weekend and Monday. But drier weather is forecast for Tuesday as the Guadalupe River has returned to more typical levels.
The Llano River and San Saba River also dramatically rose.
Eighty-four of the confirmed deaths, 56 adults and 28 children, occurred in Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a news conference Monday. Of the bodies, 22 adults and 10 children have not been identified.
"We share our deepest condolences with all affected by this tragedy," a post by the sherif's office said. "We ask private boat owners to stay off the Guadalupe River and its tributaries at this time to allow search and rescue teams to operate without interference."
Travis County, which includes the state capital in Austin, has confirmed at least seven deaths. Also, four people are dead in Burnet County, six in Kendall County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County.
All-out searches are continuing.
"There's always hope," Jake Stovall, founder and director of Gulf Search and Rescue, told CNN about his all-volunteer crew of nine.
"I've done this long enough. I've found people four days later and 20 foot up in a tree, clinging into the tree, dehydrated ... We're out here trying to find everybody alive, and if we find them deceased, then we, respectfully and with dignity, recover them."
Flooding inundates campgrounds
Camp Mystic, which is near the Guadalupe River, had about 750 campers when the flooding hit. At least 10 girls and a counselor are missing, Leitha said.
"Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly," the camp said in a statement. "We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls. We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level."
Buildings were destroyed, and furniture and toys were strewn on the ground.
The camp opened 99 years ago, and the owner and director Dick Eastland, 74, died while trying to save girls at the camp, according to CBS News.
First Lady Laura Bush was a drama counselor at Camp Mystic.
A Camp Mystic counselor helped evacuate 14 of her campers early Friday morning. Emma Foltz, from Alexandria, La., was recognized by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry in a post on Instagram.
Two other summer camps on the river, Camp Waldemar and Camp La Junta, reported all their campers were safe.
Gov. Jim Abbott visited the Mystic site on Saturday.
"Today I visited Camp Mystic. It, and the river running beside it, were horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster," Abbott wrote on X. "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."
Abbott said efforts will continue until all people are accounted for, including thoroughly searching the Guadalupe River.
Disaster declaration
President Donald Trump signed an emergency declaration on Sunday after Gov. Greg Abbott declared 20 counties as affected over the weekend.
The declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to free up additional resources to assist with the response to the flooding.
The declaration will ensure the counties "are going to have access to every tool, strategy, personnel that the state of Texas can provide to them, which will be limitless," Abbot said.
More than 20 states have sent resources, including Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered three swift-water rescue teams to the Lone Star state.
A water rescue crew and two horseback riders arrived Monday from Mexico, as well.
Also, 1,750 personnel and more than 975 vehicles have been deployed, the governor said in a statement.
Trump told reporters Sunday he plans to visit Texas "probably on Friday."
Rescue efforts
More than 850 uninjured people and eight hurt were rescued in Kerr County.
The U.S. Coast Guard was responsible for saving 223 people. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted video of rescues.
She singled out Chief Petty Officer Scott Ruskin, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, who "saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas. This was the first rescue mission of his career and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene."
HHS oversees FEMA.
Flood alerts
The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for Hill County on Thursday night.
Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. told CNN that he didn't receive a warning.
"The map was all the way from Kerr County to Val Verde County; hundreds of miles and we were the very edge of that map," Herring said. "And even if we were on the edge of the map, if it had hit five miles to the west, you'd be in Real County right now, because the water would have all rushed to Real County."
He said he got a call from City Manager Dalton Rice around 5:30 a.m. In downtown, "it was already, our Louis Hays Park, was already inundated. That was the first time I knew."
Warnings were about as reliable as expected, independent meteorologists and a former NWS official told NBC News. They said predicting extreme rain and flash flooding several hours ahead of time is challenging.
"The forecasting was good. The warnings were good. It's always about getting people to receive the message," Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist based in Wisconsin. "It appears that is one of the biggest contributors -- that last mile."
Though NWS offices have been understaffed because of cutbacks, the meteorologists said they didn't think it was a factor.
"The original forecast that we received on Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3 to 6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4 to 8 inches of rain in the Hill Country," Texas Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd said at a news conference Friday. "The amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts nonetheless."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, said that, in retrospect, people in flood-prone areas should have been evacuated.
"Everyone would agree, in hindsight, if we could go back and do it again, we would evacuate," Cruz said. "Particularly those in the most vulnerable areas -- the young children in the cabins closest to the water, we would remove them and get them to higher ground, if we could go back and do it again."