Texas officials face scrutiny over response to catastrophic
'What they need is some kind of external system, like a tornado warning that tells people to get out now,' Flowers, 44, said.
The destructive fast-moving waters that began before sunrise Friday in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 43 people in Kerr County, authorities said Saturday, and an unknown number of people remained missing. Those still unaccounted for included 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered.
But as authorities launch one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in recent Texas history, they have come under intensifying scrutiny over preparations and why residents and youth summer camps that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate.
The National Weather Service sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger.
Local officials have insisted that no one saw the flood potential coming and have defended their actions.
'There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking,' said Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes Kerr County. 'There's a lot of people saying 'why' and 'how,' and I understand that.'
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Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Hope of Finding Texas Flood Survivors Dims as Search Efforts Go On
Hope of finding survivors of the catastrophic flooding in Texas dimmed Tuesday, a day after the death toll surpassed 100 and crews kept up the search for people missing in the aftermath. The search efforts benefited from improving weather. The storms that battered the Hill Country for the past four days began to lighten up, although isolated pockets of heavy rain were still possible. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott planned to make another visit Tuesday to Camp Mystic, the century-old, all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died during the flash floods. Officials said Monday that 10 campers and one counselor have still not been found. A wall of water slammed into camps and homes along the edge of the Guadalupe River before daybreak Friday, pulling people out of their cabins, tents, and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. Questions are mounting about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents who were spending the July Fourth holiday weekend in the scenic area long known to locals as 'flash flood alley.' 'We definitely want to dive in and look at all those things,' Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said Monday. 'We're looking forward to doing that once we can get the search and rescue complete.' Some camps were aware of the dangers and monitoring the weather. At least one moved several hundred campers to higher ground before the floods. But many were caught by surprise. Searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, in Kerr County, home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps near the river, officials said. Nineteen deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson counties, local officials said. Among those confirmed dead were 8-year-old sisters from Dallas who were at Camp Mystic and a former soccer coach and his wife who were staying at a riverfront home. Their daughters were still missing. Elizabeth Lester, a mother of children who were at Camp Mystic and nearby Camp La Junta during the flood, said her young son had to swim out a cabin window to escape. Her daughter fled up the hillside as floodwaters whipped against her legs. Both survived. Search-and-rescue teams used heavy equipment to untangle trees and move large rocks as part of the massive search for missing people. Hundreds of volunteers have shown up to help with one of the largest rescue operations in Texas history. Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses, refrigerators, and coolers littered the riverbanks.
Asharq Al-Awsat
20 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Death Toll from Catastrophic Flooding in Texas over the July Fourth Weekend Surpasses 100
The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpassed 100 on Monday as search-and-rescue teams continued to wade into swollen rivers and use heavy equipment to untangle trees as part of the massive search for missing people. Authorities overseeing the search for flood victims said they will wait to address questions about weather warnings and why some summer camps did not evacuate ahead of the flooding that killed at least 104. The officials spoke only hours after the operators of Camp Mystic, a century-old all-girls Christian summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, announced that they lost 27 campers and counselors to the floodwaters. Kerr County officials said 10 campers and one counselor were still unaccounted for Monday. Searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, in the county home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, officials said. With additional rain on the way, more flooding still threatened saturated parts of central Texas. Authorities said the death toll was sure to rise. The raging flash floods, among the nation's worst in decades, slammed into camps and homes along the edge of the Guadalupe River before daybreak Friday, pulling sleeping people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses, refrigerators and coolers littered the riverbanks Monday. The debris included reminders of what drew so many to the campgrounds and cabins in the Hill Country — a volleyball, canoes and a family portrait. Nineteen deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, local officials said. Among those confirmed dead were 8-year-old sisters from Dallas who were at Camp Mystic and a former soccer coach and his wife who were staying at a riverfront home. Their daughters were still missing. Calls for finding why warnings weren't heard Authorities vowed that one of the next steps would be investigating whether enough warnings were issued and why some camps did not evacuate or move to higher ground in a place long vulnerable to flooding that some local residents refer to as 'flash flood alley.' That will include a review of how weather warnings were sent out and received. One of the challenges is that many camps and cabins are in places with poor cellphone service, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said. 'We definitely want to dive in and look at all those things,' he said. 'We're looking forward to doing that once we can get the search and rescue complete.' Some camps were aware of the dangers and monitoring the weather. At least one moved several hundred campers to higher ground before the floods. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said recent government spending cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service did not delay any warnings. 'There's a time to have political fights, there's a time to disagree. This is not that time,' Cruz said. 'There will be a time to find out what could been done differently. My hope is in time we learn some lessons to implement the next time there is a flood.' The weather service first advised of potential flooding on Thursday and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare step that alerts the public to imminent danger. Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months of rain. Some residents said they never received any warnings. President Donald Trump, who signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County and plans to visit the area, said Sunday that he does not plan to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year. 'This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it,' the president said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said local and federal weather services provided sufficient warnings. 'That was an act of God. It's not the administration's fault that the flood hit when it did, but there were early and consistent warnings,' Leavitt said. More than three dozen people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing, Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday. Search-and-rescue crews at one staging area said Monday that more than 1,000 volunteers had been directed to Kerr County. Little time to escape floods 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 tool shed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their tool shed, and they all rode it out together,' Brown said. Elizabeth Lester, a mother of children who were at Camp Mystic and nearby Camp La Junta during the flood, said her young son had to swim out his cabin window to escape. Her daughter fled up the hillside as floodwaters whipped against her legs.
Al Arabiya
20 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Texas flood toll passes 100 as more bodies recovered
The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas rose to more than 100 on Monday, as rescuers continued their grim search for people swept away by torrents of water. Among the dead were at least 27 girls and counselors who were staying at a youth summer camp on a river when disaster struck over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Forecasters have warned of more flooding as rain falls on saturated ground, complicating recovery efforts involving helicopters, boats and dogs, as the number of victims is expected to rise still. President Donald Trump is planning to visit Texas on Friday, the White House said, as it slammed critics claiming his cuts to weather agencies had weakened warning systems. 'Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,' Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. She said the National Weather Service, which The New York Times reported had several key roles in Texas unfilled before the floods, issued 'timely and precise forecasts and warnings.' Trump has described the floods that struck in the early hours of Friday as a '100-year catastrophe' that 'nobody expected.' The president, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state level, has signed a major disaster declaration, activating fresh federal funds and freeing up resources. Kerr County in central Texas has been hardest hit of the counties devastated by the floods, with 56 adults and 28 children killed, according to the local sheriff's office. They include the 27 who had been staying at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp that was housing about 750 people when the floodwaters struck. Camps are a beloved tradition in the long US summer holidays, with children often staying in woods, parks and other rural areas. Texas Senator Ted Cruz described them as a chance to make 'lifetime friends' – and then suddenly it turns to tragedy. In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins as girls at the camp slept. Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water. Volunteers were helping search through debris from the river, with some motivated by personal connections to the victims. 'We're helping the parents of two of the missing children,' Louis Deppe, 62, told AFP. 'The last message they got was 'We're being washed away,' and the phone went dead.' Months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours on Thursday night into Friday, and rain has continued in bouts since then. The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight meters) – more than a two-story building – in just 45 minutes. Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in this region of south and central Texas, known colloquially as 'Flash Flood Alley.' Human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense in recent years.
