Central Texas flood waters recede as rescuers continue search for victims
(Reuters) -A frantic search continued on Saturday for about two dozen people still missing from a century-old Christian girls' camp in central Texas after flash floods in the area killed at least 24 at the start of the U.S. Independence Day weekend and prompted the rescue of hundreds of others.
In a break for rescue crews, authorities said flood waters on Saturday were receding in the area around the Guadalupe River, about 85 miles (137 km) northwest of San Antonio, where at least 237 people were rescued, with more than 100 by helicopters. Another 23-to-25 people from the Camp Mystic summer camp were missing, most of them reported to be young girls. The river waters rose 29 feet rapidly near the camp.
The U.S. National Weather Service said that the flash flood emergency has largely ended for parts of Kerr County in south-central Texas Hill Country, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of San Antonio, following thunderstorms that dumped as much as a foot of rain early on Friday.
A flood watch, however, remains in effect until 7 p.m. on Saturday from the San Antonio-Austin, Texas, region, with scattered showers expected throughout the day, said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
"In terms of the Guadalupe River, the extreme flood waters have receded," she said. "It's no longer at extreme flood stages. And we're not expecting additional impacts."
At a news conference late on Friday, almost 18 hours after the July Fourth crisis began, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said search-and-rescue operations would press on through the night and into Saturday.
Abbott said resources devoted to the effort would be "limitless."
President Donald Trump said on Friday that "we'll take care of them," when asked about federal aid for the disaster.
Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerrville, the county seat, told reporters on Friday that the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing advance evacuation orders as the Guadalupe River swiftly rose above major flood stage.
"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."
State emergency management officials had warned as early as Thursday that west and central Texas faced heavy rains and flash flood threats "over the next couple days," citing National Weather Service forecasts ahead of the holiday weekend.
The weather forecasts, however, "did not predict the amount of rain that we saw," W. Nim Kidd, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, told a news conference on Friday night.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; editing by Diane Craft)
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The Star
12 minutes ago
- The Star
Floods turned Texas camp into a nightmare, 27 girls still missing
KERRVILLE (AP): As floodwaters began to recede from Camp Mystic, a torrent of grief remained as the identities of some of the campers who died in the flash floods began to emerge on Saturday (July 5). At least 43 people, including 15 children, died in Kerr County after a storm unleashed nearly 0.3m of rain on Friday (July 4) and sent floodwaters gushing out of the Guadalupe River through the hilly region known for its century-old summer camps. Another eight people died in nearby counties. State officials said 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian camp for girls in Hunt, Texas, still were unaccounted for about 36 hours after the flood. An eight-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic, and the director of another camp just up the road were among those confirmed dead Saturday. Gov Greg Abbott, who toured the camp Saturday with rescue crews, vowed that authorities will work around the clock to find the missing girls and others swept away in the storm that caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. Many more are still missing, and authorities said about 850 people had been rescued so far. The National Weather Service said a flood watch would remain in effect for the Hill Country region through late Saturday night. The camp was established in 1926. It grew so popular over the following decades that families are now encouraged to put prospective campers on the waitlist years in advance. Photos and videos taken before the flood are idyllic, showing large cabins with green-shingled roofs and names like "Wiggle Inn," tucked among sturdy oak and cypress trees that grow on the banks of the Guadalupe River. In some social media posts, girls are fishing, riding horses, playing kickball or performing choreographed dance routines in matching T-shirts. Girls ranging in age from eight to 17 years old pose for the camera with big smiles, arms draped across the shoulders of their fellow campers. But the floodwaters left behind a starkly different landscape: A pickup truck is balanced precariously on two wheels, its side lodged halfway up a tree. A wall is torn entirely off one building, the interior empty except for a Texas flag and paintings hung high along one side. A twisted bit of metal – perhaps a bedframe – is stacked next to colourful steamer trunks and broken tree limbs. First responders are scouring the riverbanks in hopes of finding survivors. Social media posts are now focused on the faces of the missing. State and county officials defended their actions Saturday amid scrutiny over whether the camps and residents in towns long vulnerable to flooding received proper alerts. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the region on Thursday, and it sent out a series of flash-flood warnings in the early hours Friday. The federal agency had predicted 7.6cm to 15.2 cm rain in the region northwest of San Antonio, but 25.4cm fell. The Guadalupe River rose to 7.9m within about 45 minutes in the early morning hours, submerging its flood gauge. It was not immediately clear what kind of evacuation plans Camp Mystic might have had. The county itself does not have a warning system, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said. He maintained that no one knew a flood of this magnitude was coming. By Friday afternoon, Texas Game Wardens had arrived at Camp Mystic and were evacuating campers. A rope was tied so girls could hang on as they walked across a bridge, the floodwaters rushing around their knees. Elinor Lester, 13, said she was evacuated with her cabinmates by helicopter after wading through floodwaters. She recalled startling awake around 1.30am as thunder crackled and water pelted the cabin windows. Lester was among the older girls housed on elevated ground known as Senior Hill. Cabins housing the younger campers, who can start attending at age eight, are situated along the riverbanks and were the first to flood, she said. "The camp was completely destroyed," she said. "It was really scary." Her mother, Elizabeth Lester, said her son was nearby at Camp La Junta and also escaped. A counselor there woke up to find water rising in the cabin, opened a window and helped the boys swim out. Camp La Junta and nearby Camp Waldemar said in Instagram posts that all campers and staff were safe. Elizabeth Lester sobbed when she saw her daughter, who was clutching a small teddy bear and a book. "My kids are safe, but knowing others are still missing is just eating me alive," she said. 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 of the roughly 750 campers that if they have not been contacted directly, their child is accounted for. Camp Mystic sits on a strip known to locals as "flash flood alley." "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." Decades prior, floodwaters engulfed a bus of teenage campers from another Christian camp along the Guadalupe River during devastating summer storms in 1987. A total of 10 campers from Pot O' Gold Christian camp drowned after their bus was unable to evacuate in time from a site near Comfort, 53km east of Hunt. Chloe Crane, a teacher and former Camp Mystic counsellor, said her heart broke when a fellow teacher shared an email from the camp about the missing girls. "To be quite honest, I cried because Mystic is such a special place, and I just couldn't imagine the terror that I would feel as a counsellor to experience that for myself and for 15 little girls that I'm taking care of," she said. "And it's also just sadness, like the camp has been there forever and cabins literally got washed away." Crane said the camp is a haven for young girls looking to gain confidence and independence. She recalled happy memories teaching her campers about journalism, making crafts and competing in a camp-wide canoe race at the end of each summer. Now for many campers and counsellor, their happy place has turned into a horror story, she said. – AP
New Straits Times
an hour ago
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Search for missing girls as Texas flood death toll rises to 43
HUNT, United States: Rescuers searched Saturday for 27 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed at least 43 people -- with more rain pounding the region. "We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County. Among these who are deceased we have 28 adults and 15 children," said Kerr Country Sheriff Larry Leitha. Leitha earlier put the number of evacuated people at 850, including eight reported injured. Addressing a press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was expanding a state disaster declaration and was requesting additional federal resources from US President Donald Trump. Texas Department of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd said air, ground and water-based crews were scouring the length of the Guadalupe River for survivors and the bodies of the dead. "We will continue the search until all those who are missing are found," he said. The flooding began Friday -- the start of the fourth of July holiday weekend -- as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing the Guadalupe River to rise by 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that more rain was forecast, and that "excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations." Multiple flash flood warnings remained in place over the weekend in central Texas. In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris. "The water reached the top of the trees. About 10 meters or so," said local resident Gerardo Martinez, 61. "Cars, whole houses were going down the river." Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual. But scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense. On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 children from the Camp Mystic Christian summer camp in the flooded Kerr County were still missing. Around 750 girls were enrolled at the camp. US media reported that four of the missing girls were dead, citing their families. The camp, located along the banks of the Guadalupe, was a picture of disarray, with blankets, mattresses, teddy bears and other belongings caked in mud. The windows of camp cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water. Michael, who only gave AFP his first name, was searching the camp for his eight-year-old daughter. "I was in Austin and drove down yesterday morning, once we heard about it," he said, adding that he was hoping for a "miracle." The Heart O' The Hills summer camp, located about a mile from Camp Mystic, confirmed on Saturday that its director Jane Ragsdale was among the dead. Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem told a press conference that Trump wanted to "upgrade the technologies" at the weather service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Trump's administration has faced criticism from scientists and disaster management agencies after cutting funding and hundreds of staff at the NOAA, in charge of weather forecasts and preparedness, and the NWS. "We need to renew this ancient system," Noem said. When asked about claims that residents were given insufficient warning of the floods, Noem said she would "carry your concerns back to the federal government." Officials have said the speed and level of flooding was shocking. "We didn't know this flood was coming," Kerr County official Rob Kelly said Friday. Kerrville city official Dalton Rice said rescuers were facing "very difficult" conditions, warning people against traveling to the site. Rice added it was not known how many people may have been visiting the popular camping area, and declined to give an overall figure for how many were missing. Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold. "It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this," Reyna said. "Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people's houses... It's just crazy," she added. With rescuers fanning out across the region, Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring urged the community to come together. "People need to know today will be a hard day," he said. - AFP
The Sun
3 hours ago
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Death toll from Texas floods reaches 43; many still missing
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