Bodies of two school girls discovered as 27 children still missing after Texas floods
A devastated father has revealed how his two daughters, aged 13 and 11, have both perished after being caught in catastrophic flooding, whilst his parents remain unaccounted for.
Emergency teams continue searching through a ravaged central Texas terrain littered with twisted trees, capsized vehicles and debris-clogged wreckage in what appears to be an increasingly desperate hunt for survivors, including 27 girls who vanished when Camp Mystic was battered by a torrential deluge.
RJ Harber has confirmed that his daughters Blair, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, both lost their lives in the Kerr County floods, though they were not present at Camp Mystic.
Speaking to CNN in tribute to the youngsters, he described Blair as someone who "was a gifted student and had a generous kind heart," whilst Brooke "was like a light in any room, people gravitated to her and she made them laugh and enjoy the moment."
Mr Harber also revealed to the broadcaster that his parents Charlene and Mike are missing, and he fears they too have perished, reports the Mirror.
Both girls attended St. Rita Catholic Community, where Blair was due to begin eighth grade and Brooke was set to start sixth grade, the school confirmed. A prayer service was held on Saturday afternoon to mourn and celebrate their lives.
It's understood the sisters had been staying with their grandparents beside the Guadalupe River, whilst their parents remained safe in a different cabin. "Please keep the Harber family in your prayers during this time of profound grief. May our faith, our love, and our St. Rita community be a source of strength and comfort in the days ahead," Fr. Joshua J.
Whitfield, pastor, implored in a message to his church members, as reported by CBS News.
The floods in Kerr County have claimed the lives of at least 43 individuals, including 15 children, with an additional eight fatalities confirmed in neighbouring counties.
Officials have yet to release information on the number of people still unaccounted for, aside from the children from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp situated along a river in Kerr County where the majority of the victims were found.
The Guadalupe River witnessed a catastrophic surge, with water levels rising 26 feet (8 metres) within a mere 45 minutes before dawn on Friday, resulting in the destruction of homes and vehicles. The threat persisted as heavy rainfall continued to batter areas around San Antonio on Saturday, with flash flood warnings and watches still in place.
Rescue teams employed helicopters, boats, and drones in their search efforts for those missing and to save individuals trapped in trees or cut off by roads that had been obliterated by the floods.
Governor Greg Abbott has assured that rescue operations will continue non-stop and mentioned that new regions are being scoured as the floodwaters recede. He has proclaimed Sunday to be a day of prayer across the state.
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Economist
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Why was the flooding in Texas so deadly?
Graphic detail | Water fall A mixture of geography, catastrophic rainfall and a lack of preparedness Your browser does not support this video. More than 100 people have died in one of the worst floods to hit America in a century. Torrential rain swept through Kerr County, in central Texas, early on July 4th. Among the dead are 27 girls and staff members carried away from a Christian summer camp as the water surged. More heavy rain is forecast this week. The charts and maps below explain what made the flood so deadly. Flash Flood Alley Texas Texas Hill Country Ingram weather station nty Kerr County Hunt water gauge Guadalupe river Camp Mystic Guadalupe river basin 50 km Part of the cause was record rainfall in a particularly vulnerable area of the state. At the Ingram weather station near Camp Mystic—where the girls had been staying—more than 13cm (5 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours, nearly double the historical average for the whole month. In some nearby areas of Kerr County, as much as 25cm may have fallen in just a few hours. The location of the downpour—at the head of the Guadalupe river—amplified its effects. Between 2.30am and 5.10am on July 4th the river rose almost nine metres (29 feet) at the Hunt water gauge near Camp Mystic. At 5.10am the river reached over 11 metres, after which the gauge stopped working for several hours. At this point more water was surging through the river than the typical flow over Niagara Falls. These levels surpassed those of a deadly flood in July 1987, when ten teenagers died while evacuating from another camp. Kerr County and the broader Hill Country region lies in 'Flash Flood Alley', a band of central Texas that curves south from Dallas through Austin, then west via San Antonio to the Mexican border. Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico rises over the cliffs and hills of the Balcones Escarpment. It then cools and condenses into heavy rain. This natural mechanism makes the region unusually prone to downpours, says Hatim Sharif, a hydrologist at the University of Texas at San Antonio. This weekend the amount of water vapour rose because of remnants from Tropical Storm Barry, which made landfall in Mexico on June 29th. The landscape compounds the danger. Semi-arid soils soak up little water. Rain races down hills into a dense network of narrow creeks, which rise quickly. When the water surges it can sweep away buildings, vehicles and people. That danger is well known to Texans: their likelihood of dying in a flood is twice that of the average American. Between 1959 and 2019 more than 1,000 people in Texas were killed in floods—the highest death toll of any state. Watermark Deaths from flooding, 1959-2019 200 400 600 800 Texas 1,069 Despite the forecasts and its history of flooding, Kerr County appeared unprepared. Local news reports note that the area still lacks a flood-alarm system to notify residents and visitors: efforts to fund one have failed since 2018. The timing of the floods—in the middle of the night—may have made it harder to spread warnings and evacuate. Questions are also being asked of the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Since January the National Weather Service (NWS) has lost around 560 staff—through sackings, early retirements and voluntary redundancies—reducing its workforce by 10%. Some of these roles now need to be rehired. The NWS's offices in central Texas have unfilled posts for important positions, including a senior hydrologist and a warning-co-ordination meteorologist. In an open letter published in May, former directors of the NWS who served between 1988 and 2022 warned that their 'worst nightmare' was for staffing cuts to result in 'needless loss of life'. It is not clear yet what role, if any, the budget cuts may have played. It is, however, clear that flash-flooding will continue. Basic physics means that hotter air holds more water; on a warming planet that means increases in extreme precipitation of all sorts.
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