Search for missing girls from summer camp after Texas floods kill at least 24
The destructive force of the flash floods after the Guadalupe River burst its banks just before dawn on Friday washed out homes and swept away vehicles in Texas Hill Country.
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There were hundreds of rescues around Kerr County, including at least 167 by helicopter, authorities said, after nearly a foot of rain fell.
The total number of missing is not known, but the sheriff said between 23 and 25 of them were girls who had been attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.
Families are reunited at a reunification centre after flash flooding hit the area (AP/Eric Gay)
On social media, parents and families posted desperate pleas for information about loved ones caught in the flood zone.
'The camp was completely destroyed,' said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic.
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'A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.'
She said a raging storm woke up her cabin around 1.30am on Friday (7.30am on Friday BST). When rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as the children in her cabin walked across the bridge with floodwaters whipping around their knees.
The flooding in the middle of the night on the July 4 US holiday caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise.
First responders scan the banks of the Guadalupe River for individuals swept away by flooding in Ingram, Texas (Michel Fortier/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
Officials defended their preparations for severe weather and their response, but said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was, in effect, the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area.
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One US National Weather Service forecast this week had called for only between three and six inches of rain, said Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
'It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,' he said.
At a news conference late on Friday, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 people had been confirmed killed. Authorities said 237 people had been rescued so far.
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The Sun
28 minutes ago
- The Sun
Terrifying vid shows Texas river swallow bridge & swell to bursting in just 2 MINUTES as 51 dead & 27 children missing
WATCH the terrifying video of a Texas river swallowing a whole bridge in just two minutes as killer floods engulfed parts of the state. At least 51 people have died and two dozens girls are missing after flash flooding bulldozed through homes and summer camps - and dozens are still missing. 10 10 Timelapse footage of the Llano river shows the terrifying pace at which the water rose. A road bridge crosses the river, which is filled with rocks, islands and trees. Suddenly, a wall of water cascades down the river. The surface level rises sharply - and in under two minutes the bridge is totally submerged. All but the top leaves of the very tallest trees along the river disappear as thousands of tons of water flood through the valley. Locals on the ground - including public safety officials - captured the bridge disappearing from ground level. They are repeatedly forced to seek higher ground as the torrent climbs up the river bank. Rescuers are still scouring the devastated landscape in central Texas, but hopes of finding survivors are fast dwindling. Worst hit was Kerr County, particularly areas around the Guadeloupe River where waters rose by 26ft in 45 minutes following a freak dump of rainfall. About a third of a year's worth of rain fell in a few short hours, completely overwhelming the waterways and creating an "extraordinary catastrophe". Larry Leitha, Kerr County sheriff, said: "We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County. Among these who are deceased we have 28 adults and 15 children." Dalton Rice, Kerville city manager, said on Saturday: "We've been rescuing people out of these camps by the hundreds. There's a lot of folks that are shelter in place, so we leave them in place to make sure that we get them food, water." Multiple people lost their lives in other counties, bringing the current confirmed death toll to 51 - though this is sadly expected to rise. The most desperate search is for a group of school-age girls who went missing from Camp Mystic - a Christian summer camp near the river. 10 10 Heartbreaking photos from the wrecked site show sodden mattresses and teddies strewn across dormitories. On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 of the children were still missing. The parents of all the missing children have been notified - and many turned to social media to share desperate pleas for information about their girls. Local reports suggest that up to five girls have been confirmed as dead, citing their families. Janie Hunt, 9, was among the dead, her distraught mother told CNN. A relative of nine-year-old Renee Smajstrla revealed on Facebook that the girls's body had been found. 10 10 Shawna Salta wrote: "We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday." Lila Bonner's family also statement confirming her death. They wrote: "In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time. "We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly." Lila shared a cabin with her best friend Eloise Peck, 8, who also lost her life. 10 10 Her mom, Missy Peck, told Fox4: 'Eloise was literally friends with everyone. She loved spaghetti but not more than she loved dogs and animals. 'She passed away with her cabinmate and best friend Lila Bonner who also died. "Eloise had a family who loved her fiercely for the 8 years she was with us. Especially her Mommy.' Camp Mystic's owner and director Dick Eastland is amongst those confirmed to have died. Elsewhere in Texas, four people were confirmed dead in Travis County, northeast of Kerr, and 13 people were missing, according to public information office director Hector Nieto. The total number of people missing is still unknown.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Texas floods: search continues with dozens dead or missing
Update: Date: 2025-07-06T11:30:53.000Z Title: Camp Mystic Content: Hundreds of rescuers searching for those missing in devastating floods including girls from , a Christian youth camp Texas continues grim flood recovery Yohannes Lowe Sun 6 Jul 2025 13.30 CEST First published on Sun 6 Jul 2025 10.47 CEST From 10.47am CEST 10:47 We are restarting our live coverage of the devastating Texas floods. Hundreds of rescuers are desperately searching for people missing in central Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed at least 51 people, including 15 children. The total number of missing people is not yet clear, but officials say that 27 of them are girls who had been attending , a Christian youth camp located along the River Guadalupe in Kerr County, the area worst affected by the flood. The river rose more than 20 feet in less than two hours overnight into the July 4 holiday. The flooding in Kerr County killed at least 43 people, including 15 children, and at least eight people died in nearby counties, including Travis County and Tom Green County. Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued, with more than 1,700 people involved in the search-and-rescue operation. Texas Governor Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will work around the clock and said new areas were being searched as the water receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state. In a post on X, he wrote that was 'horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster' and vowed that rescuers would find 'every girl who was in those cabins'. Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates on the floods throughout the day. 1.30pm CEST 13:30 Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, a private weather forecasting company that uses National Weather Service data, said it appeared evacuations and other proactive measures could have been undertaken to reduce the risk of fatalities. In a statement, he said: People, businesses, and governments should take action based on flash flood warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast. As we mentioned in a previous post, local officials in Texas have said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area. 'We know we get rains. We know the river rises,' said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county's top elected official. 'But nobody saw this coming.' As much as 10 inches of intense rainfall fell within a few hours overnight in central Kerr County on Friday, causing the Guadalupe River's banks to burst at about 4am local time. 1.13pm CEST 13:13 Pope Leo has sent condolences to the families of devastating floods in Texas which killed at least 51 people and left nearly 30 others missing, many of them children. Following Angelus prayers, the pontiff said: I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in a summer camp in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas. We pray for them. 12.30pm CEST 12:30 Here are some of the latest images coming out from Texas after devastating floods forced authorities to launch one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in the state's recent history: Updated at 12.31pm CEST 12.02pm CEST 12:02 US president Donald Trump addressed the deadly floods on Saturday. On his Truth Social platform, he said his administration was working with state and local officials on the ground in Texas to respond 'to the tragic flooding' that occurred a day before. 'Our Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, will be there shortly,' Trump wrote. Speaking at a press conference alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Saturday, Noem pledged that the Trump administration would use all available resources to help the state in its rescue efforts, including by bringing in more fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to aid with operations. She said the government would make it a priority to upgrade National Weather Service technology used to deliver warnings. Noem said: We know that everyone wants more warning time, and that's why we're working to upgrade the technology that's been neglected for far too long to make sure families have as much advance notice as possible. For context: Some state and local officials have said the NWS failed to provide accurate forecasts ahead of Friday's destructive flooding. '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,' Texas emergency management chief W. Nim Kidd told journalists on Friday. 'The amount of rain that fell at this specific location was never in any of those forecasts.' 11.35am CEST 11:35 The father of Blair, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, confirmed to CNN yesterday that his daughters had died in the Texas flooding after having gone missing in Kerr County. RJ Harber told CNN that Blair 'was a gifted student and had a generous kind heart' and that Brooke 'was like a light in any room, people gravitated to her and she made them laugh and enjoy the moment'. Neither Blair or Brooke were at when they went missing. Updated at 11.39am CEST 11.03am CEST 11:03 Questions have arose as to why the severity of the flooding in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July holiday caught many officials by surprise. Here is an extract from a story by my colleagues Oliver Milman, José Olivares and Robert Mackey who have looked into the preparations for the flood and examined how federal policy may have impacted local projection capabilities: Officials defended their preparations for severe weather and their response but said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was, in effect, the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area. One National Weather Service (NWS) forecast this week had called for only 3-6in (76-152mm) of rain, said Kidd, of the Texas division of emergency management. 'It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,' he said. Saturday's deaths renewed questions about whether it was wise for the Trump administration to implement deep budget and job cuts at the NWS – among other federal government agencies – since his second presidency began in January. Updated at 11.06am CEST 10.54am CEST 10:54 , a nearly century-old Christian girls camp, had 700 girls in residence at the time of the flood, according to Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Early Friday morning, shortly after the deluge hit, over 100 game wardens and an aviation group tried to access the camp, but they weren't able to enter to start rescuing children until after midday, CNN reports. One of the girls attending the camp, Renee Smajstrla, who was nine years old, was confirmed to be among the dead by her uncle. 'Renee has been found and while not the outcome we prayed for, the social media outreach likely assisted the first responders in helping to identify her so quickly,' Shawn Salta wrote on Facebook. 'We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life.' said in an email to parents of the campers that if they had not been contacted directly, their child had been accounted for. Another girls' camp in the area, Heart O' the Hills, said on its website that co-owner Jane Ragsdale had died in the flood but no campers had been present as it was between sessions. Updated at 11.06am CEST 10.47am CEST 10:47 We are restarting our live coverage of the devastating Texas floods. Hundreds of rescuers are desperately searching for people missing in central Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed at least 51 people, including 15 children. The total number of missing people is not yet clear, but officials say that 27 of them are girls who had been attending , a Christian youth camp located along the River Guadalupe in Kerr County, the area worst affected by the flood. The river rose more than 20 feet in less than two hours overnight into the July 4 holiday. The flooding in Kerr County killed at least 43 people, including 15 children, and at least eight people died in nearby counties, including Travis County and Tom Green County. Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued, with more than 1,700 people involved in the search-and-rescue operation. Texas Governor Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will work around the clock and said new areas were being searched as the water receded. He declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state. In a post on X, he wrote that was 'horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster' and vowed that rescuers would find 'every girl who was in those cabins'. Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates on the floods throughout the day.
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
At least 51 people killed in Texas flooding - five members of one man's family among missing
At least 51 people have died after heavy rain caused flash flooding, with water bursting from the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas. An unknown number of people remain missing, including 27 girls from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, a Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River. Xavier Ramirez told NBC News, Sky's US partner network, that five members of his family - his mother, stepfather, uncle, aunt and cousin - were missing following the floods, while another cousin had been found in a tree 20 miles down river from the campground outside the town of Ingram where they had all been staying. Mr Ramirez, 23, from Midland in central Texas, said his uncle had been "lost" to the waters but his mother, stepfather and cousin managed to reach higher ground. One of the trucks the group had taken shelter in was found "in Ingram, against a tree, crushed and flipped, not far from the campground," he said. Rescuers have already saved hundreds of people and would work around the clock to find those still unaccounted for, Texas governor Greg Abbott said. The overflowing water began sweeping into Kerr County and other areas around 4am local time on Friday, killing at least 43 people in the county. This includes at least 15 children and 28 adults - among those are five children and 12 adults pending identification - Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a news conference. In nearby Kendall County, one person has died. At least four people were killed in Travis County, while at least two people died in Burnet County. Another person has died in the city of San Angelo in Tom Green County. But as rescue teams are searching for the missing, Texas officials are facing scrutiny over their preparations and why residents and summer camps for children that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate. AccuWeather said the private forecasting company and the National Weather Service (NWS) sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before the devastation, urging people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas. The NWS later issued flash flood emergencies - a rare alert notifying of imminent danger. "These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety," AccuWeather said in a statement that called Texas Hill County one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the US because of its terrain and many water crossings. But one NWS forecast earlier in the week had called for up to six inches of rain, said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. "It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw," he said. Officials said they had not expected such an intense downpour of rain, equivalent to months' worth in a few short hours, insisting that no one saw the flood potential coming. One river near Camp Mystic rose 22ft in two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the NWS's Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed after recording a level of 29.5ft. "People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast," Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, said in a statement. "We know we get rain. We know the river rises," said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county's top elected official. "But nobody saw this coming." Judge Kelly said the county considered a flood warning system along the Guadalupe River that would have functioned like a tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, before he was elected, but that the idea never got off the ground because "the public reeled at the cost". Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked during a news conference on Saturday whether the flash flood warnings came through quickly enough: She said: "We know that everyone wants more warning time, and that is why we are working to upgrade the technologies that have been neglected for far too long." Presidential cuts to climate and weather organisations have also been criticised in the wake of the floods after Donald Trump 's administration ordered 800 job cuts at the science and climate organisation NOAA, the parent organisation of the NWS, which predicts and warns about extreme weather like the Texas floods. A 30% cut to its budget is also in the pipeline, subject to approval by Congress. Professor Costa Samaras, who worked on energy policy at the White House under President Joe Biden, said NOAA had been in the middle of developing new flood maps for neighbourhoods and that cuts to NOAA were "devastating".
