Texas floods leave 24 dead and more than 20 girls missing at summer camp
The US National Weather Service declared a flash-flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, located in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 105 kilometres north-west of San Antonio, following heavy downpours measuring up to 300 millimetres of rain.
Authorities said 237 people had been rescued so far, including 167 by helicopter.
Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders.
"This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time … [and] could not be predicted, even with the radar," Mr Rice said.
"This happened within less than a two-hour span."
The Kerr County Sheriff's Office reported 24 people were found dead in "catastrophic flooding" in the area.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told a late-afternoon news conference that authorities were searching for 23 girls listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children who were at a summer camp when it was swept by floodwaters at about 4am, local time.
The flood-prone region is dotted with century-old summer camps that draw thousands of kids annually from across state.
Most of the campers were safe, authorities said, but they could not immediately be evacuated because roads were made impassable by high waters.
Camp leaders said they were without power, wi-fi and running water.
Dozens of families shared in local Facebook groups that they received devastating phone calls from safety officials informing them that their daughters had not yet been located among the washed-away camp cabins and downed trees.
Camp Mystic said in an email to parents that if they had not been directly contacted, their child was accounted for.
"Everybody is doing everything in their power to get these kids out," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top elected local official, said at a news briefing on the disaster hours earlier.
He said scattered residential subdivisions, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds were hit hardest.
Mr Patrick said the Guadalupe River rose 8 metres in 45 minutes in the midst of heavy downpours deluging the region.
Search teams were flying 14 helicopters and a dozen drones over the area, in addition to hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground conducting rescues from trees and swift-flowing water.
"Additional rain is forecast in those areas," Mr Patrick said.
"Even if the rain is light, more flooding can occur in those areas.
"There is an ongoing threat for possible flash flooding from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours in addition to the continued risks in west and central Texas."
Personnel from the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were activated to assist local authorities in confronting the crisis, officials said.
Reuters/AP
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