Texas flood waters recede as 27 people confirmed dead
The sheriff's office in Kerr County, Texas said 800 people had been rescued in the region as flood waters receded in the area around the Guadalupe River, about 138km northwest of San Antonio.
At least 23 to 25 people from the Camp Mystic summer camp were missing, most of them reported to be young girls.
The river waters rose almost nine metres rapidly near the camp.
The US National Weather Service said that the flash flood emergency has largely ended for Kerr County, the epicentre of the flooding, following thunderstorms that dumped as much as a foot of rain early on Friday.
A flood watch, however, remains in effect until 7pm on Saturday from the San Antonio-Austin, Texas, region, with scattered showers expected throughout the day, according to Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
US President Donald Trump said the federal government is working with state and local officials to respond to the flooding.
"Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best," he said on social media.
Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerrville, the county seat, told reporters on Friday that the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing advance evacuation orders as the Guadalupe River swiftly rose above major flood stage.
"This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time that could not be predicted, even with radar," Rice said.
"This happened within less than a two-hour span."
State emergency management officials had warned as early as Thursday that west and central Texas faced heavy rains and flash flood threats "over the next couple days," citing National Weather Service forecasts ahead of the holiday weekend.
The weather forecasts, however, "did not predict the amount of rain that we saw," W Nim Kidd, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, told a news conference on Friday night.
The weekend disaster echoes a catastrophic flood almost 40 years ago along the Guadalupe River where a bus and a van leaving a church camp encountered flood waters and 10 teenagers drowned trying to escape, according to a National Weather Service event summary of the 1987 storm.
Hundreds of people were rescued, it said.
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Associated Press
33 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Texas officials face scrutiny over response to catastrophic and deadly flooding
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend's house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him. Hours later, he was rushing to safety: He woke up in darkness to electrical sockets popping and ankle-deep water. Quickly, his family scrambled nine people into the attic. Phones buzzed with alerts, Flowers recalled Saturday, but he did not remember when in the chaos they started. 'What they need they need is some kind of external system, like a tornado warning that tells people to get out now,' Flowers, 44, said. The destructive fast-moving waters that began before sunrise Friday in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 32 people, authorities said Saturday, and an unknown number of people remained missing. Those still unaccounted for included 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered. But as authorities launch one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in recent Texas history, they have come under intensifying scrutiny over preparations and why residents and youth summer camps that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate. The National Weather Service sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger. Local officials have insisted that no one saw the flood potential coming and have defended their actions. 'There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking,' said Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes Kerr County. 'There's a lot of people saying 'why' and 'how,' and I understand that.' When the warnings began An initial flood watch — which generally urges residents to be weather aware — was issued by the local National Weather Service office at 1:18 p.m. local time on Thursday. It predicted rain amounts of between 5 to 7 inches (12.7 to 17.8 centimeters). Weather messaging from the office, including automated alerts delivered to mobile phones to people in threatened areas, grew increasingly ominous in the early morning hours of Friday, urging people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas, said Jason Runyen, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office. At 4:03 a.m., the office issued an urgent warning that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life. Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, a private weather forecasting company that uses National Weather Service data, said it appeared evacuations and other proactive measures could have been undertaken to reduce the risk of fatalities. 'People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast,' Porter said in a statement. Local officials have said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area. 'We know we get rains. We know the river rises,' said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county's top elected official. 'But nobody saw this coming.' Kelly said the county considered a flood warning system along the river that would have functioned like a tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, before he was elected, but that the idea never got off the ground because of the expense. 'We've looked into it before … The public reeled at the cost,' Kelly said. Hundreds of rescues Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that the massive response to the flooding had resulted in the rescue and recovery of more than 850 people, including some found clinging to trees. Scores of people in and along the river were airlifted to safety by helicopter, including girls at Camp Mystic. Kelly said he didn't know what kind of safety and evacuation plans the camps may have had. 'What I do know is the flood hit the camp first, and it came in the middle of the night. I don't know where the kids were,' he said. 'I don't know what kind of alarm systems they had. That will come out in time.' U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Saturday it was difficult for forecasters to predict just how much rain would fall. She said the Trump administration would make it a priority to upgrade National Weather Service technology used to deliver warnings. 'We know that everyone wants more warning time, and that's why we're working to upgrade the technology that's been neglected for far too long to make sure families have as much advance notice as possible,' Noem said during a press conference with state and federal leaders. Weather service had extra staffers The National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio and the surrounding areas, had extra staff on duty during the storms, Runyen said. Where the office would typically have two forecasters on duty during clear weather, they had up to five on staff. 'There were extra people in here that night, and that's typical in every weather service office — you staff up for an event and bring people in on overtime and hold people over,' Runyen said. ___ Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Frantic search for survivors of Texas floods that killed 32, including 14 children
A frantic search for survivors is under way in central Texas after flash floods killed at least 32 people, including 14 children. Many were asleep when the Guadalupe River rose more than 26 ft (8m) in less than an hour in the early hours of Friday. Officials in Kerr County have said 27 children are missing from a Christian youth camp located along the river. Some 850 people were rescued. Weather forecasts suggest that more rain and, potentially, more flooding could be on the horizon for the area. Among the areas most severely hit by the floods were mobile homes, summer camps and camping sites where many had gathered for 4 July holiday celebrations. At a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he had signed an expanded disaster declaration to boost search efforts. Texas flood victims: Girl 'living her best life' and 'heart and soul' of camp He said officials would be relentless in ensuring they locate "every single person who's been a victim of this event", adding that "we will stop when job is completed". It remains a search and rescue mission, officials said, not a recovery effort. They said rescuers were going up and down the Guadalupe River to try to find people who may have been swept away by the floods. Much of the rescue has focused on a large all-girls Christian summer camp called Camp Mystic. The camp, where 27 remain missing, is on the banks of the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told the BBC's Radio 4 PM programme that of the 27 children missing from Camp Mystic "many of these girls are younger girls under the age of 12". He also said that many more people were likely to remain unaccounted for across the region, because some were visiting for the holiday weekend. In an email to parents of the roughly 750 campers, Camp Mystic said that if they haven't been contacted directly, their child is considered missing. Some of the families have already stated publicly that their children were among those who were found dead. US President Donald Trump has said his administration is working closely with local authorities to respond to the emergency. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the president was "devastated" by the loss of life and promised full federal support. Noem joined Governor Abbott at Saturday afternoon's press conference and said the federal government would soon be deploying the Coast Guard to help search efforts. Elsewhere in central Texas, in Travis County, officials say another two people have died and 10 are missing because of the flooding. Forecasters have warned that central Texas may see more flooding this weekend. The National Weather Service (NWS) said the area could see 2 to 5in (5cm to 12cm) of rain on Saturday. Up to 10in of rain was possible in some areas that are still reeling from Friday's deluge. Texas flood victims: Girl 'living her best life' and 'heart and soul' of camp
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A boy saved by barbed wire, a 'destroyed' camp and missed warning signs in Texas floods
The warning signs were already flashing as hundreds of young people celebrated the Fourth of July public holiday at Camp Mystic, nestled on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas. The Christian summer camp for girls promises to "develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem". There had not been a drop of rain in the area recently until the inundation, when the river rose 26ft (8m) in less than an hour, according to the state's Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. By Saturday afternoon, officials said at least 32 people were dead, including 14 children, and about two dozen others were missing. Frantic search for survivors Texas flood victims: Girl 'living her best life' and 'heart and soul' of camp The first hint of the devastation to come appeared on Thursday morning as rain and thunderstorms soaked a number of central Texas counties. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a common warning called a flood watch at 13:18 that afternoon for parts of the region, including Kerr County. In the early hours of Friday, the outlook became more dire as the NWS issued a series of upgraded warnings. The San Saba river, the Concho River and the Colorado River were rising. At 04.03, the NWS sent one of its most urgent alerts, a "particularly dangerous situation" warning, reserved for the most urgent and potentially deadly scenarios such as wildfires. Another "particularly dangerous situation" warning was issued for the city of Kerrville at 05.34, before dawn on Friday. "Residents and campers should SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW! Life threatening flash flooding along the river is expected," forecasters said. "Automated rain gauges indicate a large and deadly flood wave is moving down the Guadalupe River. Flash flooding is already occurring." Such alerts are shared on NWS social media accounts and by broadcast news outlets, but most people were asleep. Elinor Lester, 13, said younger campers at Camp Mystic were bunked in cabins closer to the riverbank and those were the first to flood. "The camp was completely destroyed," Elinor, who was evacuated by helicopter, told the Associated Press news agency. "It was really scary." Just outside Kerrville, the BBC met Jonathan and Brittany Rojas as they came to see what was left of a relative's home. Only the foundations remain. Five people were in the house the night of the deluge - the mother and her baby are still missing. The teenage son, Leo, survived after he became snared in barbed wire, preventing him from being swept away. The boy is recovering in hospital. As the BBC was interviewing the Rojas couple, a neighbour walked up to present them with an item salvaged from the house. It was the teenager's money jar. The label on it read, "Leo's survival kit". Social media has been flooded with Camp Mystic parents looking for news of their children. Parents desperate for their loved ones have posted pictures with their phone numbers. One Facebook group - Kerrville Breaking news - turned into a missing persons page. Others have since updated their social media posts to say their missing family members did not survive. Kerr County is right in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, a getaway destination because of its scenic rolling hills, countless rivers and lakes and abundance of wineries. But the region is also known as "Flash Flood Alley", because of the recurring threat that has devastated local communities over the years. When asked why the riverside summer camp was not evacuated, officials said the sudden scale of the deluge caught them unawares. "No-one knew this kind of flood was coming," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said. Texas floods kill 24 people and leave many missing from girls' summer camp Watch: Deadly Texas flooding causes destruction
