
Texas flooding live: At least 95 dead - as new pictures show devastation at children's camp
Here's our US correspondent Martha Kelner's latest report on the flooding in Texas.
She was speaking on The World With Yalda Hakim.
Emergency responders are now in their fourth day of search and rescue efforts now.
At least 95 dead in Texas floods
The number of dead across Texas has now risen to 95.
Four deaths have been confirmed in Burnet County, our US partner network NBC News reported, citing officials.
The vast majority of those killed by the flash floods were in Kerr County, where 75 people have died.
The others have died in: Travis County: seven
Kendall County: six
Williamson County: two
Tom Green County: one
National Weather Service warns: 'Flash flooding likely'
Thunderstorms are said to be on the move, with flash flooding "likely" in some areas today, a forecaster has warned.
In its latest update, the National Weather Service warned: "Scattered incidents of flash flooding remain likely for the next few hours."
It added as much as four inches of rain an hour was possible.
The warning referred to areas in the Texas midwest, the Edwards Plateau and west-central Texas.
Kerr County implements burn ban as fires interfere with search and rescue efforts
Kerr County has implemented a burn ban after fires interfered with search and recovery efforts.
The county is the worst-hit area by the Texas flash floods.
After an emergency meeting earlier today, all precincts in Kerr County are implementing a burn ban.
"People burning debris were causing an issue with ongoing, primary search-and-rescue operations in and along the Guadalupe River," the county said in a statement shared on social media.
Heat created by fires, lit by residents in an effort to clear debris, interfered with drones and heat-detecting equipment being used in searches for the missing.
The fires also "present other problems" for emergency workers trying to recover bodies, the sheriff said.
Don Harris, Kerr County commissioner for Precinct Four [where much of the flooding occurred], said: "We understand that everyone has got plenty of debris.
"We know that. But pile it up and wait. "
The ban will be in place until at least next Monday.
Help sent by neighbouring state
A neighbouring state sent aid to Texas and said it will "always answer the call" to help.
Louisiana governor Jeff Landry sent Texas 14 swift-water rescue workers to help with the flash flood response.
He also sent a task force leader, three boat operators, three boat bowmen, and three boat support personnel.
"Our first responders are among the best in the nation, and these men and women will always step up when disaster strikes," Landry said in a statement.
"Louisiana stands with Texas, and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to assist in their recovery."
In pictures: Wall of debris in aftermath of floods in Ingram - as Mexican firefighters come to US aid
Here are some of the latest pictures from Texas.
Firefighters from Mexico joined the emergency response to help the clear up.
In places, a wall of debris was left by the flash floods.
Jesus Gomez said his team recovered the body of one victim killed in the floods.
"It's hard, but first responders, we're a different breed, pretty much," Gomez said.
The team is from Acuna, a Mexican border town about 120 miles (193km) southwest of Kerrville, Texas.
Five million people in Texas still covered by flood watch alerts
Rain has continued to fall in parts of Texas today.
We have been reporting on what this means for Texans and rescue efforts - with the the threat of flooding still very real.
To bring home the scale of the warnings, our US partner network NBC News says five million people in central Texas are still covered by flood watches.
Affected areas include San Angelo, Killeen, Kerrville, San Antonio and Austin.
Slow-moving showers and storms with heavy rain continue to impact parts of the already-saturated region, NBC added.
The victims and people missing that have been named so far
As we've been reporting today, 10 girls are still missing from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas, after Friday's floods.
At least 91 are now dead across Texas, the White House said earlier this evening.
The first details of victims and those still missing began emerging at the weekend.
The director of Camp Mystic, Dick Eastland, is confirmed to have died in the flash flooding - he died while trying to save children at the camp, local media reported. His grandson George paid tribute to him on Instagram, saying: "A husband, father, grandfather, and mentor to thousands of young women, he no longer walks this earth, but his impact will never leave the lives he touched."
Renee Smajstrla was one of 700 girls at the summer camp when flash flooding swept through. Her uncle confirmed, in an email on Saturday to The Washington Post, that the eight-year-old was among those who died. He said of her: "We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life," adding - "she will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic".
Tap below for a full list of the victims we know about so far.
'The road ahead will be long': Texas city issues update
One of the cities hit by the flash floods in Texas has warned "the road ahead will be long".
Burnet County has confirmed four deaths so far.
In an update, the city of Burnet thanked emergency services and told residents how they can help recovery efforts.
They were directed towards central hubs, where aid can be donated.
Residents were also asked to separate "hazardous materials" from "general debris".
"Please continue to use extreme caution and do not attempt to cross low-water crossings."
Watch: Flash floods 'raged' through parts of Texas
Jay Gray, senior national correspondent with our US partner network NBC News, has been talking to us - describing how water "raged" through Kerr County.
He also said, despite a lot of debate in the US about whether the warnings came fast enough, that wasn't as much of a focus in the local area.
Watch his full report, talking to chief presenter Mark Austin, below:
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The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
Texas floods latest: 119 dead and over 170 missing as country singer reveals multiple family members killed
At least 119 people have been killed and more than 170 are still missing after catastrophic flash flooding swept through Central Texas. Officials fear that the death toll could soar as search and rescue efforts entered their sixth day Wednesday, as hundreds of local, state and federal emergency responders sift through debris for survivors. Country singer Pat Green and his wife Kori Green revealed several of their relatives were swept away in the deadly Texas floods. The singer's 'little brother John, his wife, Julia, and two of their children were swept away in the Kerrville flood,' Kori wrote on social media. Questions also remain over whether officials could have done more to prepare residents for the disastrous floods. Texas Senator Ted Cruz has criticized state officials for their response, arguing 'something went wrong' at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 children and staff members died. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has also called for an investigation into whether potential vacancies at the nearby National Weather Service offices contributed to poor communication with local officials. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha says officials are 'in the process' of assembling a timeline of the actions local officials took ahead of the floods. Key Points Death toll rises to 119 Country singer Pat Green confirms 'multiple family members' died in Texas flooding With more than 170 still missing, hopes of finding survivors fade Camp Mystic's emergency plan was signed off two days before disaster In pictures: Search and rescue efforts continue in flood aftermath Search and rescue efforts in Central Texas continued Wednesday after flash flooding along the Guadalupe River devastated communities. A least 119 people have been killed and more than 170 are still missing. Here are some photos of the aftermath: Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 04:20 Governor Abbott shares how Texas workers can get unemployment assistance after devastating floods Governor Greg Abbott shared a resource for Texas workers struggling after flash floods devastated Central Texas on July 4. Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 04:00 A Texas firefighter pleaded for an alert amid rising flood waters. It took an hour to go out As floodwaters in Texas rose in the early morning of July 4, a local firefighter petitioned for an emergency alert to quickly be sent out, but local officials do not appear to have followed his request until about an hour later, according to leaked audio. The reported early-morning request raises questions about the timeline of events offered by local officials, who have said they had little advanced warning and no county system in place to alert residents about the floods, a disaster now responsible for at least 119 deaths, with even more still missing. According to audio obtained by KSAT, at 4:22am, a fireman with the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department reportedly called into emergency dispatch to warn that the Guadalupe River appeared to be rapidly overshooting its banks. Around that time, the river rose as much as 26 feet in 45 minutes, according to state officials. The firefighter urged officials to authorize a CodeRED alert, an emergency system that would send warning messages to the cellphones of people who had previously signed up for the service. Texas firefighter pleaded for alert amid rising flood. It took an hour to go out Leaked audio provides new alert timeline as officials face scrutiny over when residents first learned of rising flood waters Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 03:41 Ex-FEMA official responds to Kristi Noem's calls to eliminate agency Deanne Criswell, former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under former President Joe Biden, has responded to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's calls to eliminate FEMA. Noem said on Wednesday: 'Federal emergency management should be state and locally led rather than how it has operated for decades. It has been slow to respond. At the federal level, it has even been slower to get the resources to Americans in crisis, and that is why this entire agency needs to be eliminated as it exists and remade into a responsive agency.' Criswell told CNN's Kaitlan Collins Wednesday night in reaction to Noem's comments: 'A core principle of emergency management has always been locally executed, state managed, and federally supported. FEMA does not run these incidents; they never have, and they come in only at the request of the state in order to support them when it exceeds their capacity. When we look at a state like Texas, the most capable state probably in the country, that also needed to ask for assistance first through state-to-state mutual aid, and then FEMA, if they need that kind of assistance, what is that gonna say for every other state or small jurisdiction out there when they have a big event and they don't have the federal government that they're used to depending on.' Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 03:20 Texas floods mapped: Here are the affected areas as death toll rises Texas floods mapped: Here are the affected areas as death toll rises At least 173 people are still missing in Central Texas, with the governor warning that 'there could be more added to that list' Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 03:00 New Mexico resident said she was in 'absolute shock' when her best friend's home was washed away by floodwaters Kaitlyn Carpenter of Ruidoso, New Mexico, was in 'absolute shock' when she saw her best friend's family home being swept away in floodwaters. ' We had saved her house last year from the flood, so to see it just be taken up in the flood was just, it was horrific. I have no words. It was so surreal,' Carpenter told CNN's Erin Burnett Wednesday night. A flash flood in New Mexico on Tuesday killed three people, including two children, and damaged dozens of homes, the Associated Press reported. Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 02:40 Showers and storms weaken as they try to move across Hill Country The National Weather Service wrote on X Wednesday night: 'Showers and storms are continuing to weaken and decrease in coverage as they try to move across the Hill Country.' Hill Country was devastated by flash floods on July 4. Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 02:25 ICYMI: Texas officials provide death toll update in Kerr County after devastating floods Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 02:20 Ex-Camp Mystic counselor calls flash floods an 'act of God,' insists no one is to blame A former Camp Mystic counselor said the July 4 flash floods along the Guadalupe River were 'an act of God' and insists no one is to blame for the deaths of 27 young campers and staff. Dr. Holly Lacour told NBC News, 'That was an incredible act of nature, an act of God, and there's nothing anybody could have done.' Lacour has been involved with the camp for 15 years, but was not a counselor this summer. When she was a counselor, Lacour said she underwent emergency training before campers arrived for the summer. She called Camp Mystic her 'favorite place in the world.' 'I don't think there are any words to describe how terrible it feels and how hard you pray afterward.' Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 02:00 Texas forest service shares photos of crews clearing debris in flood aftermath Texas A&M Forest Service shared photos of crews clearing debris Wednesday after flash floods on July 4 devastated Central Texas. Rachel Dobkin10 July 2025 01:40


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Back-to-back floods in New Mexico and Texas with very different outcomes
Eddie Gutierrez looked out the window of his brewery as the river turned into a raging torrent and swept away his neighbour's house. Three people, including two children, were killed in Tuesday afternoon's floods in Ruidoso, New Mexico, and numerous properties were destroyed. But the village was prepared, Mr Gutierrez said, with flood experts already on the ground and plans in place. By next morning the sun was shining, and the town was "almost business as usual". "It's a hard thing to see that and then the next day is almost completely normal, it's almost as if it didn't happen," he told the BBC. The neighbouring state of Texas also experienced a major flood just a few days earlier, but with a very different outcome. The ferocity of the inundation in Texas caught forecasters and state officials by surprise, killing at least 119 people. In Ruidoso on Tuesday, up to 3.5in (8.8cm) of rain fell, sending water hurtling down the surrounding mountainside and swelling the river to a record high before a swathe of the village was area surrounding Ruidoso was already vulnerable to flooding because of wildfires that hit New Mexico last summer. Two people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed as the South Fork and Salt fires swept through Ruidoso in June 2024. Residents were forced to evacuate as the conflagrations burned 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of land on either side of the later, residents faced the one-two punch of devastating flooding. Homes surrounding Mr Gutierrez's brewery were among properties still vacant after those wildfires last year. The house that he saw floating down the river on Tuesday afternoon was one of many that had been left empty after the officials are well aware that "burn scars" - areas of vegetation that no long absorb rainfall - are likely to cause more flooding in an area for years after fires. The National Weather Service (NWS) said two "burn scars" around Ruidoso would make the charred soil left behind from the wildfires "as water-repellent as a pavement". Tuesday's flooding was more of that side effect. "These floods were expected, we knew they would come and they did," Mr Gutierrez said. When a community is familiar with weather risks, they adapt, notes Upmanu Lall, director of the Water Institute at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University. "The way human nature works, is that if they've experienced a event recently that informs the response," he told the BBC. "If your experience is you got hit with a flood, you probably will evacuate, if you keep getting warnings and nothing happens, you're unlikely to evacuate." One state over, in Texas, the flooding caught many unawares. One reason was the sheer, staggering volume of rainfall - an estimated 100bn gallons, surpassing the daily flow over Niagara catastrophe unfolded before daybreak last Friday as the Guadalupe River rose 26ft (8m) in the span of just 45 minutes while young children and staff at summer camps were asleep as weather alerts were being sent. Search crews in Texas are still sifting through debris for scores of missing have said there were a number of factors that led to the tragic floods in Texas, including the pre-dawn timing, the location of some homes and the extreme weather. Questions have been raised about whether authorities provided adequate flood warnings before the disaster, and why people were not evacuated earlier."We didn't even have a warning," Joe Herring, the mayor of badly hit Kerrville, Texas, told CNN.


The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
An entire house swept downstream in New Mexico floods seen as a symbol of the devastation
Residents were glued to the windows at a riverside brewery in Ruidoso, New Mexico, as a flash flood swept through town, carrying rocks and debris. Nervous chatter filled the taproom at Downshift Brewing Company, where about 50 people were sheltering from monsoon rains that caused the Rio Ruidoso to swell to more than 20 feet (6.1 kilometers) on Tuesday, a tentative record. The gasps in the room grew louder as an entire house floated by, knocking down trees in its path. The turquoise paint on the front door of the single-story white house with brown slats was barely visible under layers of mud. But local artist Kaitlyn Carpenter, who was filming the flooding on her phone, recognized it immediately as the family home of one of her best friends. 'I've been in that house and have memories in that house, so seeing it come down the river was just pretty heartbreaking,' she said. 'I just couldn't believe it.' No one was inside the house that day. Carpenter said her friend stays elsewhere during the summer since the mountain town is prone to flooding. Her image of the house has been widely shared as a stark symbol of the flood's destruction. Three people who were at a riverside RV park died after being swept away in the river, including two children. Dozens of homes have been damaged, and streets were clogged with mud and debris. Farther down the river, pieces of metal and other debris were twisted around tree trunks. Broken tree limbs were wedged against homes and piled on porches. The water was thick with sediment and many roads still remained closed Wednesday. The popular summer destination has been especially vulnerable to flooding since the summer of 2024, when the South Fork and Salt fires raced across tinder-dry forest and destroyed hundreds of homes. Residents were forced to flee a wall of flames, only to grapple with intense flooding later that summer.