At least 51 dead in Texas floods as search for missing girls reaches third day
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 eight metres 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.
Governor 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.
'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 eight-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.
AccuWeather said the private forecasting company and the National Weather Service sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours beforehand.
'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. Representative 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.
Search crews faced harsh conditions while 'looking in every possible location,' Rice said.
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.
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.
'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.'
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.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Risk of further floods in Texas during desperate search for missing as death toll tops 80
Onlookers review the damage along the Guadalupe River caused by recent flooding, Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez) KERRVILLE, Texas — With more rain on the way, the risk of life-threatening flooding was still high in central Texas on Monday even as crews search urgently for the missing following a holiday weekend deluge that killed at least 82 people, including children at summer camps. Officials said the death toll was sure to rise. Residents of Kerr County began clearing mud and salvaging what they could from their demolished properties as they recounted harrowing escapes from rapidly rising floodwaters late Friday. Reagan Brown said his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt. When the couple learned that their 92-year-old neighbor was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her. 'Then they were able to reach their toolshed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their toolshed, and they all rode it out together,' Brown said. A few miles away, rescuers maneuvering through challenging terrain filled with snakes continued their search for the missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp that sustained massive damage. Gov. Greg Abbott said 41 people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing. In the Hill Country area, home to several summer camps, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials. The governor warned that additional rounds of heavy rains lasting into Tuesday could produce more dangerous flooding, especially in places already saturated. Families were allowed to look around the camp beginning Sunday morning. One girl walked out of a building carrying a large bell. A man whose daughter was rescued from a cabin on the highest point in the camp walked a riverbank, looking in clumps of trees and under big rocks. One family left with a blue footlocker. A teenage girl had tears running down her face as they slowly drove away and she gazed through the open window at the wreckage. Searching the disaster zone Nearby crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches from the river. With each passing hour, the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak. Volunteers and some families of the missing came to the disaster zone and searched despite being asked not to do so. Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made. U.S. President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County and said he would likely visit Friday: 'I would have done it today, but we'd just be in their way.' 'It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible,' he told reporters. Prayers in Texas — and from the Vatican 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. In Rome, Pope Leo XIV offered special prayers for those touched by the disaster. The first American pope spoke in English at the end of his Sunday noon blessing, saying, '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.' Desperate refuge and trees and attics Survivors shared terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as rampaging floodwaters carried trees and cars past them. Others fled to attics, praying the water wouldn't reach them. At Camp Mystic, a cabin full of girls held onto a rope strung by rescuers as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs. 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. Two school-age sisters from Dallas were missing after their cabin was swept away. Their parents were staying in a different cabin and were safe, but the girls' grandparents were unaccounted for. Warnings came before the disaster On Thursday the National Weather Service advised of potential flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger. Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area. Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said authorities are committed to a full review of the emergency response. Trump, asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that was something 'we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working.' He has said he wants to overhaul if not completely eliminate FEMA and sharply criticized its performance. Trump also was asked whether he planned to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread government spending cuts. 'I would think not. This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people there, and they didn't see it,' the president said. ___ Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Cedar Attanasio in New York; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Michelle Price in Morristown, N.J.; and Nicole Winfield in Rome. Jim Vertuno And John Seewer, The Associated Press
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Why flash floods are so common – and deadly – in Texas's Hill Country
The devastation caused by the past week's flash flooding in Texas has sent shock waves, with local officials insisting that it was an extreme event nobody saw coming. But when flood researcher Nasir Gharaibeh first saw the news about the natural disaster, he found himself feeling upset but unsurprised. 'Nothing in terms of the likelihood of something like this happening was surprising to me,' said the professor at Texas A&M University, who studies flash floods and their causes, in an interview. 'That kind of storm, in that kind of location, will happen. And it will result in human casualties.' On Friday, an intense downpour dumped months' worth of rain over Texas's Hill Country region. It caused destructive, fast-moving waters to rise 26 feet on the Guadalupe River, washing away trees, homes and vehicles. Authorities and elected officials have told reporters that they did not expect such an intense downpour and were taken aback by the ferocity of the flood. But flash floods are a known risk in central Texas, which the National Weather Service has identified as the most flash-flood-prone area in the country. And no state has more flood-related deaths than Texas. More than 1,000 Texans died in floods between 1959 and 2019, according to research conducted by Hatim Sharif, a flood expert with the University of Texas at San Antonio. (It's a total that far outstrips Louisiana's 693, the state with the second-highest death toll.) The vast majority of flood-related deaths occur in flash-flooding events, according to Prof. Gharaibeh. And within Texas, nowhere is more susceptible than Flash Flood Alley, the swath of land that includes Hill Country and encompasses dozens of counties stretching from north of Dallas to the region west of San Antonio. The National Weather Service defines a flash flood as flooding that begins within six hours of heavy rainfall. Prof. Gharaibeh says he's heard it described as 'a 'rain bomb,' which is really what it is.' There are three factors that put localities at risk of flash flooding, he noted: steep terrain, intense storms and soil conditions that exacerbate flood risk. Hill Country sits at the intersection of all three. As its name suggests, the region's topography is defined by its steep-sloped hills, which are interwoven with shallow, winding creeks. This landscape creates a magnetic draw for campers and outdoor enthusiasts, but also increases the risk of flash flooding. In heavy downpours, water will barrel down the steep hillsides and flood the creeks that feed the Guadalupe River. When those creeks converge on a river, it can create a surge of water powerful enough to sweep away houses and cars: 'You can get walls of water coming down,' local meteorologist Cary Burgess said in a 2017 flood-awareness video. The region is also home to the Balcones Escarpment, a row of cliffs and steep hills created by a geologic fault, Prof. Sharif, who is a hydrologist and civil engineer. When warm air rushes up from the Gulf of Mexico, it condenses and dumps moisture into the area, he explained. Meanwhile, the soil is dry and shallow, with just a few inches sitting on top of limestone, he added: 'It gets soaked very quickly. There's no room for the soil to absorb a lot of water.' A look at some of the deadliest floods in the U.S. in the last 25 years Mr. Burgess, in the 2017 video, warned that just three or four inches of rain at one time can cause a 'real serious problem' in Hill Country. But in Friday's early hours, the communities along the Guadalupe River received at least 10 inches. A river gauge at Hunt, Texas near Mystic Camp shows how rapidly the water levels rose, Prof. Sharif wrote in The Conversation. At 3 a.m., water was rising by one foot every five minutes; within an hour and a half, it had already risen more than 20 feet. A 2017 paper published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society analyzed flash-flood fatalities between 1996 and 2014, noting that late-evening events were the most devastating in terms of injuries and deaths. But while fewer flash flooding events were associated with campsites and recreational areas, they lead to more losses per event compared with other scenarios, the study found. In 1987, another flash flood in Hill Country also killed summer campers after 10 teenagers died while being evacuated from Pot O' Gold Christian camp. Prof. Sharif said he hopes that data will be collected from this latest flash flood to investigate what went wrong so that future disasters can be mitigated. He also believes that early warning systems need to be improved, incorporating rainfall forecasting as well as sophisticated hydrologic models that can better predict the impact on the ground. 'If we have six inches [of rain], which areas will be flooded? How wide will the river become?' he said, adding that perhaps this type of flood modelling could establish rainfall thresholds that would trigger evacuations in specific areas. The National Weather Service said it did issue a flood watch for the area on Thursday afternoon, which it upgraded to a warning overnight, meaning floods were imminent or occurring. But those notices would have arrived while many people were sleeping, Prof. Sharif noted. And Kerr County judge Rob Kelly told CBS News that his region does 'not have a warning system' for alerting local residents. This should no longer be acceptable in high-risk regions such as Flash Flood Alley, Prof. Gharaibeh said. 'You know that something like this has happened in the past, and it will happen again. Why don't we have a better warning system to people in this region?' he said. 'It needs to be quick, and it needs to have different warning signs so people can tell: This is serious, we need to do something.' With a report from the Associated Press
CTV News
10 hours ago
- CTV News
Death toll in central Texas flash floods rises to 82 as sheriff says 10 campers remain missing
Volunteers search for missing people along the banks of the Guadalupe River after recent flooding on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez) KERRVILLE, Texas — Families sifted through waterlogged debris Sunday and stepped inside empty cabins at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp ripped apart by flash floods that washed homes off their foundations and killed at least 82 people in central Texas. Rescuers maneuvering through challenging terrain, high waters and snakes including water moccasins continued their desperate search for the missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from the camp. For the first time since the storms began pounding Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing. In Kerr County, home to Camp Mystic and other youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said in the afternoon. He pledged to keep searching until 'everybody is found' from Friday's flash floods. Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials. The death toll is certain to rise over the next few days, said Col. Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The governor warned that additional rounds of heavy rains lasting into Tuesday could produce more life-threatening flooding, especially in places already saturated. As he spoke at a news conference in Austin, emergency alerts lit up mobile phones in Kerr County that warned of 'High confidence of river flooding' and a loudspeaker near Camp Mystic urged people to leave. Minutes later, however, authorities on the scene said there was no risk. Families were allowed to look around the camp beginning Sunday morning. One girl walked out of a building carrying a large bell. A man, who said his daughter was rescued from a cabin on the highest point in the camp, walked a riverbank, looking in clumps of trees and under big rocks. A woman and a teenage girl, both wearing rubber waders, briefly went inside one of the cabins, which stood next to a pile of soaked mattresses, a storage trunk and clothes. At one point, the pair doubled over, sobbing before they embraced. One family left with a blue footlocker. A teenage girl had tears running down her face looking out the open window, gazing at the wreckage as they slowly drove away. Searching the disaster zone While the families saw the devastation for the first time, nearby crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches from the water as they searched the river. With each passing hour, the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak. Volunteers and some families of the missing who drove to the disaster zone searched the riverbanks despite being asked not to do so. Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made. President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County, activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Texas. The president said he would likely visit Friday. 'I would have done it today, but we'd just be in their way,' he told reporters before boarding Air Force One back to Washington after spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. 'It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible.' 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 flash flood watches remained in effect and more rain fell 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. Officials said more than 850 people were rescued in the first 36 hours. Prayers in Texas - and from the Vatican 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. In Rome, 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.' 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. Harrowing escapes from floodwaters Survivors shared terrifying stories of being swept away and clinging to trees as rampaging floodwaters carried trees and cars past them. Others fled to attics inside their homes, praying the water wouldn't reach them. At Camp Mystic, a cabin full of girls held onto a rope strung by rescuers as they walked across a bridge with water whipping around their legs. 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. Two school-age sisters from Dallas were missing after their cabin was swept away. Their parents were staying in a different cabin and were safe, but the girls' grandparents were unaccounted for. Locals know the Hill Country as " flash flood alley" but the flooding in the middle of the night caught many campers and residents by surprise even though there were warnings. Warnings came before the disaster The National Weather Service on Thursday advised of potential flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies -- a rare alert notifying of imminent danger. 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. Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said authorities are committed to a full review of the emergency response, including how the public was alerted to the storm threat. Trump, asked whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that was something 'we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working.' He has previously said he wants to overhaul if not completely eliminate FEMA and has been sharply critical of its performance. Trump also was asked whether he planned to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread government spending reductions. 'I would think not. This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people there, and they didn't see it,' the president said. Jim Vertuno and John Seewer, The Associated Press Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Cedar Attanasio in New York; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Michelle Price in Bridgewater, N.J.; and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed.
