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Flash floods kill 80 in Texas as questions mount over ignored warnings
The worst-hit area was Kerr County, where 28 children were among the deceased. A girls' summer camp became the scene of heartbreak as floodwaters inundated the site overnight. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly told CBS News that the magnitude of the flood came without warning.
'We had no reason to believe that this was gonna be anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever,' Kelly said.
Timeline of flood warnings
The flooding began late Thursday and carried into early Friday. Within 45 minutes, the Guadalupe River swelled by 26 ft, breaching its banks and sweeping through towns and campsites.
According to official records, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) activated an emergency response due to expected flooding in West and Central Texas on Wednesday. Then on Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flood watch for Kerr County. On Friday at 1:14 am, a flash flood warning was issued for Kerr County. At 4.03 am and 5.34 am the same day, emergency flood warnings were issued as river levels surged, BBC reported.
Despite these alerts, evacuations did not follow, and some residents were caught completely off guard.
Texas floods: Communication and infra gaps
Governor Greg Abbott said Texans are accustomed to flash flood warnings but emphasised the exceptional nature of this event. 'But there's no expectation of a water wall of almost 30ft high,' he said.
Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd cited technical challenges. 'You have areas where there is no cell phone coverage... it doesn't matter how many alert systems you sign up for, you're not going to get that,' Kidd said, as quoted by BBC.
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said he underestimated the danger while jogging near the river early Friday. 'By 5.20 am, the water had risen so fast we almost weren't able to get out of the park,' he said.
Judge Kelly added that Kerr County lacks a local flood alert system due to high infrastructure costs. A river warning system had been considered six years ago but was never implemented.
NWS defends its warnings amid criticism
The National Weather Service (NWS) said it issued timely alerts and held briefings on July 3. 'Flash flood warnings were issued... giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before warning criteria were met,' it said.
Texas floods: Staffing and budget cuts under scrutiny
The floods reignited concerns over staffing shortages and budget cuts at the National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Reports mention fewer weather balloon launches and unfilled forecasting positions.
Tom Fahy, legislative director of the NWS Employees Organisation, said, 'The WFOs had adequate staffing and resources as they issued timely forecasts and warnings.'
Asked about systemic failures, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem emphasised the challenge of weather prediction. She said President Donald Trump is committed to modernising the country's alert systems. 'We know that everybody wants more warning time, and that's why we're working to upgrade the technologies,' she said, as quoted by BBC.
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NDTV
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- NDTV
More Than 100 Dead In Texas Floods As More Rain Expected
The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas rose to more than 100 on Monday, as rescuers continued their grim search for people swept away by torrents of water. Among the dead were at least 27 girls and counselors who were staying at a youth summer camp on a river when disaster struck over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Forecasters have warned of more flooding as rain falls on saturated ground, complicating recovery efforts involving helicopters, boats and dogs, as the number of victims is expected to rise still. President Donald Trump is planning to visit Texas on Friday, the White House said, as it slammed critics claiming his cuts to weather agencies had weakened warning systems. "Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. She said the National Weather Service, which The New York Times reported had several key roles in Texas unfilled before the floods, issued "timely and precise forecasts and warnings." Trump has described the floods that struck in the early hours of Friday as a "100-year catastrophe" that "nobody expected." The president, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state level, has signed a major disaster declaration, activating fresh federal funds and freeing up resources. - 'Tragedy' - Kerr County in central Texas has been hardest hit of the counties devastated by the floods, with 56 adults and 28 children killed, according to the local sheriff's office. They include the 27 who had been staying at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp that was housing about 750 people when the floodwaters struck. Camps are a beloved tradition in the long US summer holidays, with children often staying in woods, parks and other rural areas. Texas Senator Ted Cruz described them as a chance to make "lifetime friends -- and then suddenly it turns to tragedy." In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins as girls at the camp slept. Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water. Volunteers were helping search through debris from the river, with some motivated by personal connections to the victims. "We're helping the parents of two of the missing children," Louis Deppe, 62, told AFP. "The last message they got was 'We're being washed away,' and the phone went dead." Months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours on Thursday night into Friday, and rain has continued in bouts since then. The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight meters) -- more than a two-story building -- in just 45 minutes. Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in this region of south and central Texas, known colloquially as "Flash Flood Alley." Human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense in recent years. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
India Today
5 hours ago
- India Today
Texas flash floods kill 89, dozens missing including children at Camp Mystic
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India Today
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Texas floods: 27 campers, counsellors dead at Christian all-girls camp
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The waters tore through Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old Christian girls' retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe River."Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy," the camp said in a statement on "Dick" Eastland, 70, the co-owner and director of Camp Mystic, died trying to save the children at his camp during the flood, multiple media including the Austin American-Statesman and his wife Tweety Eastland have owned the camp since 1974, according to the camp's website."If he wasn't going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for," Eastland's grandson, George Eastland, wrote on Hill Country where the worst flooding occurred, 2 to 4 inches of more rain were expected to fall, with isolated areas getting up to 10 inches of rain, said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, said that the potential new floods could be particularly dangerous because of the water-saturated soil and all the debris already in and around the weather service issued a flood watch through 7 p.m. on Monday in the 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 OF DISASTERBut 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, City Manager Dalton Rice and other public officials, including Governor Greg Abbott, said the circumstances of the flooding, and the adequacy of weather forecasts and warning systems, would be scrutinised once the immediate situation was brought under 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 told reporters on 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 said on Saturday that more than 850 people had been rescued, some clinging to trees, after the sudden storm dumped up to 15 inches of rain across the region, about 85 miles (140 km) northwest of San 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 BACK FEDERAL DISASTER RESPONSETrump said on Sunday that he would visit the disaster scene, probably on Friday. He 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 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 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 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 a 100-year catastrophe".Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Fox News on Monday that there did not appear to be a specific breakdown in the National Weather Service systems."The alerts went out several hours in advance, but the rise in the level of water, and how quickly that happened, just really was unprecedented for this area," she said.- EndsMust Watch
