Latest news with #JoeHerringJr
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Mayor in Flood-Hit Texas City: ‘We Didn't Even Have a Warning'
Kerrville mayor Joe Herring Jr. tearfully disclosed Monday that local officials 'didn't even have a warning' ahead of the catastrophic floods that killed over 100 people in central Texas. 'I think everyone in Kerrville, everyone in Kerr County, wishes we had some way to warn those people,' Herring told CNN's Pamela Brown in an interview Monday through tears. 'I've lost two friends. We loved them. And they're gone. They're gone.' Flooding struck central Texas on July 4 after heavy downpour caused the Guadalupe River to rise around 26 feet within just 45 minutes. Kerr County was notably hit the hardest by the historic flooding, and tragically holds the highest number of fatalities with 84 being confirmed dead as of Monday evening, per CNN. The total death toll across six counties has surged to at least 104 as of Monday evening, per The Associated Press. 'Everyone here, if we could have warned them, we would have done so. We didn't even have a warning, we did not know,' Herring continued. 'We did not know there was no—when I checked it about 8 o'clock that night, there's a chance of rain, but I did not see a flood warning.' 'I did not receive a flood notification. I did not know,' the mayor added. Texas Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd similarly bemoaned inaccurate weather forecasts in a Friday press conference, saying that 'the original forecast that we received Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3-6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4-8 inches in the Hill Country.' 'The amount of rain that fell at this specific location was never in any of those forecasts,' he continued. In a Saturday statement to the Daily Beast, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service, which was hit by employee cuts earlier this year, said: 'The National Weather Service is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County. On July 3, the NWS office in Austin/San Antonio, Texas, conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in the morning and issued a Flood Watch in the early afternoon.' 'Flash Flood Warnings were also issued on the night of July 3 and in the early morning of July 4, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred,' they continued. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt further countered claims that DOGE cuts at the National Weather Service hindered its response to the floods Monday, describing the natural disaster as an 'act of God.' 'It's not the administration's fault that the flood hit when it did,' Leavitt said. 'But there were early and consistent warnings, and again, the National Weather Service did its job.' The Daily Beast has contacted the National Weather Service for additional comment. Kerr County was notably also the site of Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp which is currently grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday that 10 girls and one counselor are still unaccounted for. In a press conference Monday, Herring warned that residents still face a 'rough week' ahead. 'We need your prayers,' he added.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Death Toll Rises in Texas Floods as Authorities Piece Together What Went Wrong
Historic flooding has brought the death toll in Texas to 95 people. First responders work to find missing people in the debris and waterways, covering over 60 miles. "I need to tell my community and those families who are waiting, this will be a rough week. Primary search continues, and we remain hopeful — every foot, every mile, every bend of the river," said Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. Kerr County saw 75 people dead, 27 of those being children. Many children were from an all-girls private summer camp near the Guadalupe River, Camp Mystic. As of Monday, 10 campers are still missing, along with one camp counselor. In a statement on its website, Camp Mystic officials wrote, "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly." Travis, Burnet, Tom Green, Kendall and Williamson Counties reported at least 20 people dead after the storms. The catastrophic flash flooding in central Texas matches only that of the deadly flooding after Hurricane Helene. These are the two deadliest U.S. disasters driven by rainfall since 1976. 'Hearing the screams because you couldn't see anything, it was pitch black, but hearing people's screams, kids screaming, asking for help, cars were floating away with the lights on. You could see the lights and you can hear honking. And there was like not one or two, but there were dozens of vehicles just floating away and I was just, it was just too much," said Lorena Guillen, the owner of a local restaurant. Death Toll Rises in Texas Floods as Authorities Piece Together What Went Wrong first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 8, 2025
Bangkok Post
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Texas flood's toll tops 100
TEXAS — The weary mayor of Kerrville, Texas, the United States, warned residents to expect a 'rough week' as chances faded on Monday of finding anyone still alive from catastrophic flooding that killed at least 100 people across central Texas. Ten girls and a counsellor were still missing from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp, which said at least 27 of its young campers and staff members did not survive the surging waters from the nearby Guadalupe River. Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr said rescue crews would push forward with their searches, slashing through debris and downed trees even as they braced for the possibility of more downpours and flash flooding. 'We need your prayers,' Herring said at a news conference Monday. Harrowing stories have emerged across the Hill Country, including accounts of rescues and reunions. In Kerr County, the hardest-hit area, the victims from Camp Mystic included girls as young as 8 years old, as well as counsellors and the camp's director. Officials faced new rounds of questions on Monday over whether more should have been done to give warning and evacuate areas around the river. Lt Gov Dan Patrick of Texas acknowledged that flood-warning sirens might have saved lives if they had been along the river. He added that they needed to be in place by next summer. Kerr County officials had considered installing them but balked at the price tag. Patrick, speaking on Fox News on Monday, said that if local governments could not afford it, 'then the state will step up.' Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said there would be a 'careful examination of what happened' to prevent the same loss of life in the future. 'Next time there is a flood, I hope we have in place processes to remove especially the most vulnerable from harm's way,' he added. President Donald Trump was tentatively scheduled to travel to Texas on Friday, said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. The visit was being coordinated with local officials to ensure it does not disrupt recovery efforts, she said. Trump criticised President Joe Biden last year for not immediately visiting North Carolina, also to avoid interfering with relief efforts, after disastrous flooding there. Sen Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, asked the acting inspector general for the Commerce Department to investigate whether cuts and staffing shortages at the National Weather Service had contributed to the large death toll in Texas. The New York Times reported this past weekend on vacancies within the agency. Much of central Texas, including the Hill Country, was under a flood watch on Monday, and there was a chance of more flash flooding through the day and overnight. The Weather Prediction Centre cautioned that 'any storms that move across this extremely vulnerable region will rapidly cause flash flooding.' On Sunday, heavy rainfall led to a minor rise in the Guadalupe River, which has seen the worst devastation, prompting a brief pause in search-and-rescue operations. River levels later returned to normal, said Jason Runyen, a meteorologist at the weather service office for Austin, San Antonio, and the surrounding areas. Risk of further flooding 'is there again today,' he said Monday. 'If the heavy rain happens to be in the Guadalupe river basin, we could see some minor rises on the river.'
Business Recorder
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Business Recorder
Hopes fade for Texas flood victims as death toll tops 95
KERRVILLE: Search teams plodded through muddy riverbanks and flew aircraft over a flood-ravaged central Texas landscape on Monday as hopes dimmed for finding more survivors among dozens still missing from a disaster that has claimed at least 96 lives, many of them children. Three days after a torrential predawn downpour transformed the Guadalupe River into a raging, killer torrent, a Christian girls' summer camp devastated by the flash flood confirmed that 27 campers and counselors were among those who had perished. Ten girls and a camp counselor were still unaccounted for, officials said on Monday, as search-and-rescue personnel faced the potential of more heavy rains and thunderstorms while clawing through tons of muck-laden debris. The bulk of the death toll from Friday's flooding was concentrated in and around the riverfront Hill Country town of Kerrville, including the ill-fated grounds of Camp Mystic. By Monday afternoon, the bodies of 84 flood victims - 56 adults and 28 children - were recovered in Kerr County, most of them in the county seat of Kerrville, according to the local sheriff. As of midday Sunday, state and local officials said 12 other flood-related fatalities had been confirmed across five neighboring south-central Texas counties, and that 41 other people were still listed as missing outside Kerr County. Texas flood witness recalls furniture, trees and RVs swept down river The New York Times, one of numerous news media outlets publishing varying death tolls on Monday, reported that at least 104 people had been killed across the entire flood zone. 'Rough week ahead' While authorities continued to hold out hope that some of the missing would turn up alive, the likelihood of finding more survivors diminished as time passed. 'This will be a rough week,' Mayor Joe Herring Jr said at a briefing on Monday morning. Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old Christian girls' retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe was at the epicenter of the disaster. 'Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,' the camp said in a statement on Monday. Richard 'Dick' Eastland, 70, Mystic's co-owner and director, died trying to save children at his camp from the flood, multiple media, including the Austin American-Statesman reported. He and his wife, Tweety Eastland, have owned the camp since 1974, according to its website. 'If he wasn't going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,' Eastland's grandson, George Eastland, wrote on Instagram. Mishap in the sky Authorities lost one of their aviation assets on Monday when a privately operated drone collided in restricted airspace over the Kerr County flood zone with a search helicopter, forcing the chopper to make an emergency landing. No injuries were reported, but the aircraft was put out of commission, according to the Kerr County Sheriff's Office. National Weather Service forecasts on Monday predicted that up to 4 more inches of rain could douse Texas Hill Country, with isolated areas possibly receiving as much as 10 inches (25 cm). Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said the potential for renewed flooding was particularly heightened by the saturated condition of the soil and mounds of debris already strewn around the river channel. A flood watch was posted until 7 p.m. State emergency management officials had warned on Thursday, ahead of the July Fourth holiday, that parts of central Texas faced the possibility of flash floods based on National Weather Service forecasts. But twice as much rain as was predicted ended up falling over two branches of the Guadalupe just upstream of the fork where they converge, sending all of that water racing into the single river channel where it slices through Kerrville, City Manager Dalton Rice said. Rice said the outcome, the result of an unpredictable combination of circumstances, was unforeseen and unfolded in a matter of two hours. Death toll from Texas floods reaches 67, including 21 children 'Why didn't we evacuate? Well, evacuation is a delicate balance,' he said in response to reporters' questions on Monday. 'If you evacuate too late, you then risk putting buses, or cars, or vehicles or campers on roads into low-water areas, trying to get them out, which then can make it even more challenging.' 'It's very tough to make those calls, because what we also don't want to do is cry wolf.' The chief meteorologist for commercial forecaster AccuWeather, Jonathan Porter, said authorities had ample time to move people to higher ground before the flood struck. Rice and other public officials, including Governor Greg Abbott, said the circumstances of the flooding, and the adequacy of weather forecasts and warning systems, would be scrutinized once the immediate situation was brought under control. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday asked a government watchdog to investigate whether budget cuts imposed by the Trump administration contributed to any delays or inaccuracy in forecasting the floods. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said there would be time to examine whether more could have been done to prevent the loss of life but that now was not the time for 'partisan finger-pointing.'
New Straits Times
08-07-2025
- Climate
- New Straits Times
Hopes fade for Texas flood victims as death toll tops 96
KERRVILLE, Texas – Search teams plodded through muddy riverbanks and flew aircraft over a flood-ravaged central Texas landscape on Monday as hopes dimmed for finding more survivors among dozens still missing from a disaster that has claimed at least 96 lives, many of them children. Three days after a torrential predawn downpour transformed the Guadalupe River into a raging, killer torrent, a Christian girls' summer camp devastated by the flash flood confirmed that 27 campers and counsellors were among those who had perished. Ten girls and a camp counsellor were still unaccounted for, officials said on Monday, as search-and-rescue personnel faced the potential of more heavy rains and thunderstorms while clawing through tons of muck-laden debris. The bulk of the death toll from Friday's flooding was concentrated in and around the riverfront Hill Country town of Kerrville, including the ill-fated grounds of Camp Mystic. By Monday afternoon, the bodies of 84 flood victims – 56 adults and 28 children – were recovered in Kerr County, most of them in the county seat of Kerrville, according to the local sheriff. As of midday Sunday, state and local officials said 12 other flood-related fatalities had been confirmed across five neighbouring south-central Texas counties, and that 41 other people were still listed as missing outside Kerr County. The New York Times, one of numerous news media outlets publishing varying death tolls on Monday, reported that at least 104 people had been killed across the entire flood zone. 'ROUGH WEEK' AHEAD While authorities continued to hold out hope that some of the missing would turn up alive, the likelihood of finding more survivors diminished as time passed. "This will be a rough week," Mayor Joe Herring Jr said at a briefing on Monday morning. Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old Christian girls' retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe, was at the epicentre of the disaster. "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy," the camp said in a statement on Monday. Richard "Dick" Eastland, 70, Mystic's co-owner and director, died trying to save children at his camp from the flood, multiple media, including the Austin American-Statesman, reported. He and his wife, Tweety Eastland, have owned the camp since 1974, according to its website. "If he wasn't going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for," Eastland's grandson, George Eastland, wrote on Instagram. MISHAP IN THE SKY Authorities lost one of their aviation assets on Monday when a privately operated drone collided in restricted airspace over the Kerr County flood zone with a search helicopter, forcing the chopper to make an emergency landing. No injuries were reported, but the aircraft was put out of commission, according to the Kerr County Sheriff's Office. National Weather Service forecasts on Monday predicted that up to 4 more inches of rain could douse Texas Hill Country, with isolated areas possibly receiving as much as 10 inches (25 cm). Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said the potential for renewed flooding was particularly heightened by the saturated condition of the soil and mounds of debris already strewn around the river channel. A flood watch was posted until 7 p.m. State emergency management officials had warned on Thursday, ahead of the July Fourth holiday, that parts of central Texas faced the possibility of flash floods based on National Weather Service forecasts. But twice as much rain as was predicted ended up falling over two branches of the Guadalupe just upstream of the fork where they converge, sending all of that water racing into the single river channel where it slices through Kerrville, City Manager Dalton Rice said. Rice said the outcome, the result of an unpredictable combination of circumstances, was unforeseen and unfolded in a matter of two hours. "Why didn't we evacuate? Well, evacuation is a delicate balance," he said in response to reporters' questions on Monday. "If you evacuate too late, you then risk putting buses, or cars, or vehicles or campers on roads into low-water areas, trying to get them out, which then can make it even more challenging." "It's very tough to make those calls, because what we also don't want to do is cry wolf." The chief meteorologist for commercial forecaster AccuWeather, Jonathan Porter, said authorities had ample time to move people to higher ground before the flood struck. Rice and other public officials, including Governor Greg Abbott, said the circumstances of the flooding, and the adequacy of weather forecasts and warning systems, would be scrutinised once the immediate situation was brought under control. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday asked a government watchdog to investigate whether budget cuts imposed by the Trump administration contributed to any delays or inaccuracy in forecasting the floods. US Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said there would be time to examine whether more could have been done to prevent the loss of life but that now was not the time for "partisan finger-pointing."
