2nd LD: At least 13 dead, over 20 kids missing in central Texas flooding
There are currently "about 23" kids unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told a news conference Friday afternoon. The camp hosts about 750 children.
He said at least 14 helicopters, 12 drones and more than 500 people are searching around the camp, and multiple adults and children have been rescued from trees nearby.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told a news conference that at least 13 people died in the county due to the severe flooding and several people remain unaccounted for.
Leitha said he expects more fatalities will be reported in the county.
"We are still actively trying to find those that are out and those that are needing assistance," Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said.
At about 4 a.m. local time (0900 GMT), the National Weather Service upgraded its flash flood warning, which allows wireless emergency alerts to be sent to cell phones for residents and campers along the river, NBC News reported.
The service also warned that a "large and deadly flood wave" was moving down the Guadalupe River.
The Guadalupe River in Kerr County rose from 7.5 feet (about 2.3 meters) to nearly 30 feet overnight and is expected to crest at 34 feet in Spring Branch on Friday afternoon, said the service.
Cars, campers and mobile homes were swept away as the section of the Guadalupe River surged in the county, online videos showed.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on X that the state is "surging all available resources" to respond to the flooding. "The immediate priority is saving lives," the governor said.
Over half a million people in central Texas were under flash flood warnings as of Friday afternoon.
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The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Desperate search for missing girls from summer camp after Texas floods kill at least 24
KERRVILLE, United States (AP): At least 24 people were killed and a frantic search continued overnight for many others missing in the Texas Hill Country, including more than 20 from a girls camp, after a storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain and sent floodwaters spilling out of the Guadalupe River. The destructive force of the fast-rising waters just before dawn on Friday (July 4) washed out homes and swept away vehicles. There were hundreds of rescues around Kerr County, including at least 167 by helicopter, authorities said. The total number of missing was not known but the sheriff said between 23 and 25 of them were girls who had been attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river. On social media, parents and families posted desperate pleas for information about loved ones caught in the flood zone. "The camp was completely destroyed," said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic. "A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary." She said a raging storm woke up her cabin around 1.30am Friday and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as the children in her cabin walked across bridge with floodwaters whipping around the calves and knees. The flooding in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July holiday caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. Officials defended their preparations for severe weather and their response but said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was, in effect, the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area. One National Weather Service forecast this week had called for only between 76mm to 152 mm of rain, said Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. "It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw," he said. At a news conference late Friday Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 people had been confirmed killed. Authorities said 237 people had been recued so far. A river gauge at Hunt recorded a 6.7m rise in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed after recording a level of 9m. "The water's moving so fast, you're not going to recognise how bad it is until it's on top of you," Fogarty said. On the Kerr County sheriff's office Facebook page, people posted pictures of loved ones and begged for help finding them. At least 400 people were on the ground helping in the response, Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick said. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used, with some people being rescued from trees. In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain at 3.30am Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home directly across from the river, she said. She described an agonising hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough so they could walk up the hill to a neighbour's home. "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. Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: "Thankfully he's over six feet tall. That's the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him." Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors at 5.30am but that he had received no warning on his phone. "We got no emergency alert. There was nothing," Stone said. Then "a pitch black wall of death." At a reunification centre set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog. Later, a girl in a white "Camp Mystic" T-shirt and white socks stood in a puddle, sobbing in her mother's arms. Barry Adelman, 54, said water pushed everyone in his three-story house into the attic, including his 94-year-old grandmother and nine-year-old grandson. The water started coming through the attic floor before finally receding. "I was horrified," he said. "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." The forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. But totals in some places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said. Patrick noted that the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area. "Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we're not exactly sure where it's going to land," Patrick said. "Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that's when the storm started to zero in." Asked about how people were notified in Kerr County so that they could get to safety, Judge Rob Kelly, the county's chief elected official, said: "We do not have a warning system." When reporters pushed on why more precautions weren't taken, Kelly said: "Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming." The area is known as "flash flood alley" because of the hills' thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster. "When it rains, water doesn't soak into the soil," Dickson said. "It rushes down the hill." River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, Dickson said. "It's generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations," Dickson said. – AP
Malay Mail
8 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Devastating Texas floods leave 13 dead, dozens missing in south-central US
HOUSTON, July 5 — At least 13 people were dead after flash flooding hit south-central Texas early Friday, officials said, with more than 20 girls at a summer camp still unaccounted for. 'We have identified 13 fatalities,' Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told a press conference after devastating floods swept through the region northwest of San Antonio, warning more casualties were likely. Some of the dead were children, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said. 'About 23' girls were unaccounted for from Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River, which rose 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes overnight, Patrick added. 'That does not mean they've been lost, they could be in a tree, they could be out of communication,' he said. Patrick read out a message from the director of the summer camp, which had some 750 campers over the July 4 long weekend, reporting that it had 'sustained catastrophic level of flooding.' 'We have no power, water or Wi-Fi,' the message said. State and local officials warned against residents traveling to the area which includes camp grounds dotted along the river, with dozens of roads 'impassable.' Videos on social media showed houses and trees swept away by the overnight flash flood caused by heavy overnight rainfall of 12 inches – one-third of Kerr County's average annual rainfall. Texas Governor Greg Abbott shared a video on X of a victim being plucked from the top of a tree by a rescuer dangling from a helicopter, as floodwaters raged below. 'Another wave' 'Air rescue missions like this are being done around the clock. We will not stop until everyone is accounted for,' he said. Freeman Martin, director of the state's public safety department, said the flood was a 'mass casualty event.' About 500 rescue personnel and 14 helicopters were deployed, with the Texas National Guard sending rescue teams and the US Coast Guard joining efforts. 'The rain has let up, but we know there's another wave coming,' Martin warned, saying more rain would be hitting areas around San Antonio and Austin. 'We didn't know this flood was coming,' Kerr County judge Rob Kelly said earlier on Friday, adding that the region has 'floods all the time.' 'This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States,' he added, referring to the Guadalupe River that flows through the region. Forecasters issued a flood warning for Kerr County, urging those living near the Guadalupe River to 'move to higher ground.' In mid-June, at least 10 people were killed by flash flooding in San Antonio following torrential rains. — AFP
The Sun
9 hours ago
- The Sun
Texas flash flooding kills at least 13 people
Torrential rains unleashed deadly flash floods along the Guadalupe River in south-central Texas on Friday, killing at least 13 people and initially leaving nearly two-dozen girls missing from a riverfront summer camp, local authorities said. The U.S. National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, located in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of San Antonio, following thunderstorms with heavy downpours that dumped as much as a foot of rain. 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 that could not be predicted, even with radar,' Rice said. 'This happened within less than a two-hour span.' Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told reporters that 13 people were found dead from flooding in the area, adding, 'I think there will be more when this thing is over.' Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said at an earlier news briefing that six to 10 bodies of adults and children had been found, some in cars washed downstream. He also said authorities were searching for 23 girls listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children at several summer camp sites near the banks of the Guadalupe River when the site was inundated by floodwaters at around 4 a.m. local time. 'We're praying for all those missing to be found alive,' Patrick said. It was not clear whether anyone unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls, might have ended up among the deceased victims tallied countywide by the sheriff. Otherwise, all other campers were safe, authorities said, but the campers could not immediately be evacuated because roads were made impassable by high waters. Camp Mystic's director said in a message read to reporters that the facility's power, water and internet service also had been cut off. 'Everybody is doing everything in their power to get these kids out,' Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top local elected official, said at a news briefing on the disaster hours earlier. Kelly said a number of scattered residential subdivisions, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds were hit hard. Patrick said the Guadalupe River had risen 26 feet (8 m) in 45 minutes amid heavy showers soaking 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. The Llano River flowing through adjacent Mason County was also reported running at flood stage, posing 'a life-threatening situation,' the weather service reported. With additional rain forecast in the region, Patrick warned that an ongoing threat for possible flash flooding extended from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours. Personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were activated to assist local authorities in confronting the crisis, officials said. - Reuters
