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The Guardian
09-07-2025
- The Guardian
Texas flooding death toll climbs to 119 as search for more people continues
The number of people who have died from the flooding in Texas continues to rise, with at least 119 people dead throughout the state, officials said on Wednesday morning. Search crews continue to look for people, as residents and news organizations question the government's alarm and warning systems. In Kerr county, the area that was worst affected by last Friday's flood, officials said on Wednesday morning that 95 people have died. The other 24 people who have died are from surrounding areas. The Kerr county sheriff said 59 adults and 46 children have died, with 27 bodies still unidentified. People are slowly returning to their properties to survey the damage from the devastating flash flood, as local officials continue with rescue, recovery and cleanup efforts. There are 161 people believed to be missing in Kerr county due to the flash floods, making up the majority of the 173 missing in the entire state. Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian camp that was gravely affected by the flood, still has five campers and one counselor missing. As cleanup efforts continue, more and more people are scrutinizing the government's alert system to warn people before the flood. Journalistic investigations have revealed that first responders asked that a mass-alert system in Kerr county be triggered on Friday morning. The alert system sends text messages and 'delivers pre-recorded emergency telephone messages' to some people in the area. Dispatchers delayed a 4.22am request from volunteer firefighters for an alert to be sent, saying they needed special authorization, according to reporting from Texas Public Radio (TPR) based on emergency radio transmissions they reviewed. Some residents received flood warnings within an hour. Others told TPR they did not receive an alert until 10am – nearly six hours after first responders' request. A separate story from KSAT confirms TPR's reporting. There are inconsistencies regarding local officials' response. In his first press conference on 4 July after the flood, the Kerr county judge said the area did not have an emergency alert system. 'I believe those questions need to be answered, to the families of the missed loved ones, to the public, you know, to the people who put me in this office. And I want that answer and we're going to get that answer,' Kerr county sheriff, Larry Leitha, said. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'We're not running, we're not going to hide. That's going to be checked into at a later time.' There are no outdoor weather sirens to blast alerts in some communities in the area. Since 2015, Kerr county officials have applied for grants for a flood warning system, the New York Times reported. For years, officials have also warned the series of summer camps in the area of incoming floods by word-of-mouth. A petition was launched after the flood for an early warning siren system and has more than 35,000 signatures. Rescue and recovery efforts are continuing. The Kerr county sheriff's department is working on rescue and recovery efforts, the sheriff said, adding that it was an 'all hands on deck' situation. During Wednesday's press conference, local officials asked people to be careful and give search crews space during their efforts. 'We are using very heavy equipment' to search and clear up fallen trees and debris, a sheriff official said. On Sunday, the Trump administration declared the flooding a 'major disaster' and deployed federal resources to assist the state.


The Independent
09-07-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
3 dead as flash flooding hits mountain village of Ruidoso in New Mexico, officials say
Three people have died in a mountain village in southern New Mexico that is a popular summer retreat after monsoon rains triggered flash flooding that was so intense an entire house was swept downstream, officials said. A man and two children were swept away Tuesday by floodwaters, the village of Ruidoso said in a statement. Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars, said Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The water had receded by Tuesday night and search and rescue and swift water rescue teams were scouring the town for the missing people, while public works crews cleared debris from the roadways. Some cars were left stranded in the mud. ___ Peipert reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Denver, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.


Al Jazeera
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
Dozens missing after monsoon triggers Nepal-China floods
Dozens missing after monsoon triggers Nepal-China floods NewsFeed At least eight people were killed and dozens are missing after monsoon rains triggered severe flooding at the Nepal-China border. Trade was halted after flooding washed away the Friendship Bridge, which links the two countries. Video Duration 00 minutes 38 seconds 00:38 Video Duration 01 minutes 26 seconds 01:26 Video Duration 03 minutes 25 seconds 03:25 Video Duration 01 minutes 10 seconds 01:10 Video Duration 02 minutes 25 seconds 02:25 Video Duration 02 minutes 12 seconds 02:12 Video Duration 02 minutes 17 seconds 02:17
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Officials provide update on Texas floods rescue and recovery effort
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.


Telegraph
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Telegraph
The failures that left Camp Mystic girls at the mercy of Texas flash floods
Most residents of Kerr County, Texas, would have been asleep when flood alerts flashed up on their phones in the early hours of Friday. A few hours later, many of them were woken by neighbours hammering on their door or their dogs frantically barking. Others would not have woken up until flood water engulfed their beds. For many, it was already too late. The Kerr County towns that lie along the Guadalupe River, which surged more than 20 feet in less than an hour on Friday morning, bore the brunt of the floods and suffered most of the deaths. The story leading up to this tragedy is one of grave mistakes. It is not about what happened when the Guadalupe burst its banks, or the immediate aftermath, where rescuers frantically tried to save lives. It is about how officials – in a Texan disaster hotspot known as Flash Flood Alley – failed to act years before. The disaster is one of the most lethal floods in US history, with a death toll of more than 100 and climbing - including 28 children. Dozens are still missing, with ten girls among them. 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. However, speaking on Monday afternoon, officers said those questions would be answered 'once we can get the search and rescue complete.' Meanwhile, Ted Cruz, the Texas senator, was quick to admit that 'something went wrong'. 'The fact that you have girls asleep in their cabins when the flood waters are rising — something went wrong there. We've got to fix that and have a better system of warning to get kids out of harm's way,' he told Fox News on Monday. Although the area is volatile, the veracity and speed of the floods took authorities utterly by surprise. 'Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,' Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, said on Friday. County officials had previously suggested flood sirens would be too 'extravagant' and taxpayers would refuse to stump up for them. That meant the safety of Kerr County locals – many of them out in caravans and mobile homes ahead of Fourth of July celebrations – was dependent on a flash flood text alert sent out by the National Weather Service. There were two, at 1.14am and 4.03am local time. In Kerrville, Hunt, Ingram and Comfort, which lie along the route of the Gaudalupe, most people were asleep. And at Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girl summer camp in Hunt where some of the cabins were just feet from the banks of the river, guidance issued to parents suggests the children would have handed in all their electronic devices. When the river swelled some 26 feet in the space of 45 minutes around the time of the second alert, the results were disastrous. Of the 91 confirmed dead so far, the vast majority were killed in Kerr County, and of those, 27 were either girls or counsellors staying at Camp Mystic for the summer break. A further 10 girls, and one counsellor, are still unaccounted for. Some figures had spent years attempting to raise the alarm about the county's lack of flood defences. 'It sort of evaporated,' he told The New York Times.'It just didn't happen.' Another commissioner reportedly voted against approving a $50,000 (£37,000) study grant for the sirens and water gauges that would have been installed along the Guadalupe. 'I think this whole thing is a little extravagant for Kerr County, with sirens and such,' he said, according to local media. 'Taking these funds out of special projects from the road and bridge department ticks me off a little bit.' Then in 2017, the county applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) for a $1 million grant for a warning system which ended up being rejected by the government. According to Kerr County minutes, most of the funding was sent to help communities that had been shattered by Hurricane Harvey instead. At the time, Mr Moser called it 'bad news'. Just how bad is only now becoming clear. As recently as October, just months before the deaths caused by last week's brutal flooding, Kerr County documents show it deemed installing sirens along the Guadalupe River a 'high priority' and said the devices could be installed for the relatively inexpensive sum of $1,000 (£735) each. Critics have also taken aim at Donald Trump, claiming the cuts overseen by his former ally Elon Musk as government efficiency tsar left critical positions unfilled in the National Weather Service. Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, on Monday morning called for an investigation into the cuts, and the impact they had on the response. While several positions are vacant in Texas' San Antonio and San Angelo offices, including a warning coordination meteorologist, experts have pushed back on claims that understaffing caused a delayed response. On Monday, Mr Cruz declared the floods had 'broken the heart of our state' while warning against politicising the tragedy. 'There's a time to have political fights. There's a time to disagree. This is not that time,' he said. For now, Texas is bracing for yet more flooding, with much of its central counties covered by warnings of varying severity. McCulloch County – the so-called 'heart of Texas' – on Monday was at risk of further flash flooding, as is neighbouring Brown County, Menard County and Schleicher County. Ron DeSantis, Florida's governor, on Monday called the tragedy a 'biblical flood'. But after years of unheeded warnings and red tape, it seems the tragedy could well be the catalyst for a political reckoning.