Trump calls Texas floods ‘unimaginable tragedy' as death toll hits 80
He declared a major disaster, saying he would 'probably' visit the state later this week. Rescuers are still trying to find at least ten missing girls and one counsellor from Camp Mystic, the Christian camp that was overwhelmed when the River Guadalupe burst its banks on Friday.
Larry Leitha, the Kerr County sheriff, told a news conference earlier on Sunday that the 68 dead in the worst-hit county included 28 children and 40 adults. Eighteen adults and four children who died had not yet been identified.
Questions were raised about whether vacancies at two local offices of the National Weather Service (NWS) made coordination with emergency responders more difficult.
Despite warnings from meteorologists of possible flooding from late Thursday into Friday, the scale of the downpour in the early hours confounded expectations. Over a few hours, the Guadalupe running alongside Camp Mystic rose from 7ft to 29ft. Some wondered why camps along the river had not been evacuated given the warnings.
On Sunday Trump said he had signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, which will allow it to access further emergency funds. He said he had been in touch with the Texas governor and that he 'wanted to leave a little time' before visiting the stricken region.
'I would have done it today, but we would just be in their way, probably Friday,' the president said.
John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas, told Fox News that he expected the death toll to rise.
Trump promised to provide the 'brave first responders' of Texas with all the resources they needed as rescue teams and sniffer dogs continued to search for signs of life after the devastating flash floods.
But even the president could not provide better news to families who were already grieving, or fresh hope to those whose loved ones remained among the missing, as the death toll rose and the chances of finding survivors receded during the day.
The Texas governor Greg Abbott said 41 people were known to be missing.
Warnings of further rainfall and thunderstorms to come were issued as rescuers raced to find those who remained unaccounted for, including ten young girls and a councillor who had been at the hundred-year-old Camp Mystic, the Christian summer camp that was swept away by the torrents.
Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings at the camp were caked in mud, and windows in the cabins were shattered.
By Saturday, Dalton Rice, the city manager in Kerrville, said officials were 'seeing bodies recovered all over, up and down'. He added: 'We broke it down into grids so we can recover those bodies.'
As the search continued, questions were raised about why the worst-affected areas were not evacuated sooner. Kerr County appeared to lack a local flood warning system. Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, suggested that this came down to expense. 'Taxpayers won't pay for it,' he said.
• Why did the floods catch Texas by surprise?
But there were also questions about whether staffing shortages at the NWS had affected the quality of a forecast — or the speed of the response.
Texas officials said the forecasters had not anticipated the extent of the downpour. The first evacuation warnings from the San Angelo and San Antonio weather offices arrived from midnight on Thursday and the flash floods followed very quickly. The Guadalupe River rose more than 20ft in under two hours during the torrential rain.
Tom Fahy, the legislative director of the NWS's union, said the state's office in San Antonio had a number of vacancies in key roles, including a warning co-ordination meteorologist.
Fahy added that the San Angelo office, which covered some of the worst-hit areas, was missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge, and that the vacancy rate at both offices was roughly double what it was in January, when Trump took office. Since then, the Trump administration cut or retired almost 600 employees at the NWS as part of a drive to reduce 'waste' in federal departments.
The majority of victims recorded were along the Guadalupe River in the county. Hundreds of emergency service personnel and more than a dozen dogs continued to search for those missing.
Parents rushed to the reunification centre on Friday morning after reports of the flooding, as the camp was hampered in its ability to assist search operations without internet or power, while a road which had been destroyed close by was further complicating efforts.
Abbott said the authorities 'won't stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins', as he described the camp as having been 'horrendously ravaged' by the floods.
Trump thanked the emergency services searching for those who remained missing. 'Our incredible US Coast Guard, together with State First Responders, have saved more than 850 lives,' he posted.
Rice said the primary focus remained the 'search and rescue of every single person involved'. He added: 'We'll continue through the night to make sure that happens.'
Securing a major disaster declaration allows Texas access to federal assistance.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a statement that this help 'can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programmes' for individuals, while funding was available for eligible government agencies and non-profit organisations helping with the response.
RJ Harber, father of Blair, 13, and Brooke, 11, confirmed the deaths of his two daughters this weekend. The sisters were staying with their grandparents Charlene and Mike Harber in a cabin by the Guadalupe River. Harber believes his parents, who are still missing, have also died. He and his wife had been staying in a separate cabin nearby, when the catastrophic floods struck. They were unharmed.
Lila Bonner, nine, was at Camp Mystic with her best friend, eight-year-old Eloise Peck, who is still missing. The pair had recently finished second grade at Bradfield elementary school.
Renee Smajstrla, eight, also at Camp Mystic, was confirmed dead by her uncle. He told The Washington Post that the family were thankful Renee 'was with her friends and having the time of her life'.
The family of Sarah Marsh, eight, who had been attending Camp Mystic, said they were 'blessed to have had this beautiful spunky ray of light in our lives'.
Janie Hunt's mother, Anne Hunt, confirmed that her nine-year-old daughter, who had been staying at Camp Mystic, died on Saturday.
Julian Ryan's fiancée said the 27-year-old died a 'hero' saving his family. Punching through a window pane to allow his fiancée, children and her mother to escape, the father of three lacerated his arm in the process and bled to death before rescuers arrived.
Jane Ragsdale was director and co-owner of the Heart O' the Hills all-girls' camp located slightly upriver from Camp Mystic. Ragsdale was described as its 'heart and soul'.
Richard Eastland, Camp Mystic's co-owner since 1974, died in a helicopter on the way to a Houston Hospital, according to the Kerr County judge Rob Kelly. Eastland was the third generation of his family to manage the summer camp and had 11 grandchildren, many of whom helped with running it.
Reece and Paula Zunker were found dead on Saturday morning. The Zunkers' two young children are unaccounted for.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Tragic end to search for Camp Mystic counselor after Texas flood
The search for 19-year-old Camp Mystic counselor Katherine Ferruzzo has come to a heartbreaking end with her remains recovered from the mud-clogged banks of the Guadalupe River. Her body was found on Friday morning, eight days after flash floods turned a summer refuge into a deadly disaster zone. Ferruzzo, a recent high school graduate from Houston, had been missing since the early hours of July 4, when a wall of raging water tore through the all-girls Christian summer camp near Hunt, Texas. The tragedy unfolded in the darkness as chaos broke out, with cabins obliterated, bunks swept away, and dozens of lives from the camp snuffed out. Her family confirmed her death in a solemn statement: 'On Friday, July 11, 2025, Katherine Ferruzzo's remains were found. We are incredibly grateful to all the search and rescue professionals and volunteers who have remained steadfast in their efforts to locate the victims of this tragedy. We would especially like to thank the Texas Rangers.' Ferruzzo is one of at least 27 confirmed dead from the catastrophic flooding that overwhelmed Camp Mystic, and one of 129 people killed in what is now being called the deadliest flash flood event in Texas history. For generations of Texas girls, Camp Mystic has been a beloved summer tradition — a place of faith, friendship, and freedom under the stars. Founded in 1926, the camp has never seen a disaster of this magnitude. Its historic riverside cabins, some nearly a century old, were crushed or swept away by the torrent. Officials say many of the victims were caught in their bunks or separated during efforts to escape. The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system. The sheer amount of rain was overwhelming. Former NOAA chief scientist Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist, calculated on July 5 that the storm had dropped 120 billion gallons of water on Kerr County, which received the brunt of the storm. Camp organizers have yet to release a full statement, although several staffers have been working closely with the families of the missing. Ferruzzo had been preparing to begin a degree in education at the University of Texas at Austin, with dreams of becoming a special education teacher. Friends and family described her as kind, selfless, and committed to helping others, especially children with learning differences. Her loved ones are now channeling their grief into a cause she cared about deeply. The Katherine Ferruzzo Legacy Foundation is being established in her honor 'to support those with special needs and learning differences,' the family announced. The July 4 flood began with a wall of water, the result of hours of tropical rainfall that saturated the region overnight. As campers slept in wooden cabins, the Guadalupe River had swelled by 26 feet by 4:30am. The campsites, some of them situated just yards from the river's edge, stood no chance. Survivors have spoken of being jolted awake by the raging water, then running blindly through the darkness as cabins collapsed around them. Search teams worked for days through tangled debris, uprooted trees, and collapsed structures, deploying boats, drones, cadaver dogs, and helicopters. But the sheer force of the flood and the river's strong current has made recovery agonizingly slow. Ferruzzo was among the last missing campers still unaccounted for before her body was found. Across Texas, the death toll has continued to rise, with dozens still unaccounted for, many presumed drowned. Entire towns across the Hill Country have been ravaged, with roads remaining impassable, and in some counties the power has yet to be restored. Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency days ago, calling the disaster 'a once-in-a-century flood event.' In Kerr County alone, more than 80 structures were destroyed, with families displaced indefinitely. On Sunday, more heavy rains in Texas paused the weeklong search for victims. Officials warned that the downpours could again cause waterways to surge. It was the first time a new round of severe weather had paused the search since the July Fourth floods. In Kerrville, where local officials have come under scrutiny about the warnings given to residents, authorities went door-to-door to some homes after midnight early on Sunday to alert people that flooding was again possible. Authorities also pushed alerts to the phones of those in the area. Ingram Fire Department officials ordered search crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County until further notice, warning the potential for a flash flood is high. Search-and-rescue efforts are expected to resume on Monday, depending on river flow, fire department spokesman Brian Lochte said. 'We're working with a few crews and airboats and SAR (search-and-rescue) boats just in case,' Lochte said. Gov. Greg Abbott said on X that the state was making rescues in San Saba, Lampasas, and Schleicher counties and that evacuations were taking place in a handful of others. The latest round of flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit. 'Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,' she said. 'Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.' With more rain on the way, county officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate. 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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Heavy rain in Texas halts rescue efforts as officials warn of further flooding
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The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system. The sheer amount of rain was overwhelming. Former Noaa chief scientist Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist, calculated on 5 July that the storm had dropped 120bn gallons of water on Kerr county, which received the brunt of the storm. On Sunday, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said that Donald Trump wants to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) 'remade' instead of eradicated entirely. Speaking to NBC, Noem defended the Trump administration's response to the deadly Texas floods that have killed at least 120 people, saying: 'I think the president recognizes that Fema should not exist the way that it always has been. It needs to be redeployed in a new way, and that's what we did during this response.' 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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Tragic end to search for missing Camp Mystic counselor Katherine Ferruzzo after Texas floods wiped out cabins
The search for 19-year-old Camp Mystic counselor Katherine Ferruzzo has come to a heartbreaking end with her remains recovered from the mud-clogged banks of the Guadalupe River. Her body was found on Friday morning, eight days after flash floods turned a summer refuge into a deadly disaster zone. Ferruzzo, a recent high school graduate from Houston, had been missing since the early hours of July 4, when a wall of raging water tore through the all-girls Christian summer camp near Hunt, Texas. The tragedy unfolded in the darkness as chaos broke out with cabins were obliterated and bunks swept away and dozens of lives from the camp snuffed out. Her family confirmed her death in a solemn statement: 'On Friday, July 11, 2025, Katherine Ferruzzo's remains were found. We are incredibly grateful to all the search and rescue professionals and volunteers who have remained steadfast in their efforts to locate the victims of this tragedy. We would especially like to thank the Texas Rangers.' Ferruzzo is one of at least 27 confirmed dead from the catastrophic flooding that overwhelmed Camp Mystic, and one of 129 people killed in what is now being called the deadliest flash flood event in Texas history. For generations of Texas girls, Camp Mystic has been a beloved summer tradition - a place of faith, friendship, and freedom under the stars. Founded in 1926, the camp has never seen a disaster of this magnitude. Its historic riverside cabins, some nearly a century old, were crushed or swept away by the torrent. Officials say many of the victims were caught in their bunks or separated during efforts to escape. The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system. The sheer amount of rain was overwhelming. Former NOAA chief scientist Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist, calculated on July 5 that the storm had dropped 120 billion gallons of water on Kerr County, which received the brunt of the storm. Camp organizers have yet to release a full statement, although several staffers have been working closely with the families of the missing. Ferruzzo had been preparing to begin a degree in education at the University of Texas at Austin, with dreams of becoming a special education teacher. Friends and family described her as kind, selfless, and committed to helping others, especially children with learning differences. Her loved ones are now channeling their grief into a cause she cared about deeply. The 13 girls and two counselors, including Ferruzzo were staying in Camp Mystic's Bubble Inn cabin when the catastrophic floods hit on the morning of July 4 The Katherine Ferruzzo Legacy Foundation is being established in her honor 'to support those with special needs and learning differences,' the family announced. The July 4 flood began with a wall of water, the result of hours of tropical rainfall that saturated the region overnight. As campers slept in wooden cabins the Guadalupe River had swelled by 26 feet by 4:30am. The campsites, some of them situated just yards from the river's edge, stood no chance. Survivors have spoken of being jolted awake by the raging water, then running blindly through the darkness as cabins collapsed around them. Search teams worked for days through tangled debris, uprooted trees, and collapsed structures deploying boats, drones, cadaver dogs, and helicopters. But the sheer force of the flood and the river's strong current has made recovery agonizingly slow. Ferruzzo was among the last missing campers still unaccounted for before her body was found. Across Texas, the death toll has continued to rise with dozens still unaccounted for, many presumed drowned. Entire towns across the Hill Country have been ravaged with roads remaining impassable, and in some counties the power has yet to be restored. Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency days ago, calling the disaster 'a once-in-a-century flood event.' In Kerr County alone, more than 80 structures were destroyed with families displaced indefinitely. On Sunday, more heavy rains in Texas paused the weeklong search for victims officials warned that the downpours could again cause waterways to surge. It was the first time a new round of severe weather had paused the search since the July Fourth floods. In Kerrville, where local officials have come under scrutiny about the warnings given to residents, authorities went door-to-door to some homes after midnight early on Sunday to alert people that flooding was again possible. Authorities also pushed alerts to the phones of those in the area. Ingram Fire Department officials ordered search crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County until further notice, warning the potential for a flash flood is high. Search-and-rescue efforts are expected to resume on Monday, depending on river flow, fire department spokesman Brian Lochte said. 'We're working with a few crews and airboats and SAR (search-and-rescue) boats just in case,' Lochte said. Gov. Greg Abbott said on X that the state was making rescues in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties and that evacuations were taking place in a handful of others. The latest round of flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit. 'Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,' she said. 'Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.' With more rain on the way, county officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate. Johnson said people were being moved to the San Saba Civic Center, which has become a safe, high place for people to receive aid and shelter. 'Everyone is in some way personally affected by this,' she said. 'Everyone is just doing what they can to help their neighbors.' The weather system brought multiple rounds of heavy rains and slow-moving storms across a widespread area, pushing rivers and streams over their banks. Heading into the afternoon and evening, the heaviest rains were expected along the I-35 corridor and eastwards, said meteorologist Patricia Sanchez from the National Weather Service's Fort Worth office.
