Desperate search for the missing as more than 80 people dead in Texas floods
US President Donald Trump said he would 'probably' visit the southern state on Friday.
Trump brushed off concerns his administration's wide-ranging cuts to weather forecasting and related federal agencies had left local warning systems worse off.
Instead, he described the flash floods as a '100-year catastrophe' that 'nobody expected.'
At least 40 adults and 28 children were killed in the worst-hit Kerr County in central Texas, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Sunday, while nearby areas showed at least 13 more people were killed by flooding.
'Across the state, in all the areas affected by flooding, there are 41 known missing,' Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Sunday.
As questions grew about why warnings did not come sooner or people were not evacuated earlier in the area popular with campers, Trump said the situation was a 'Biden setup.'
Death toll from Texas floods reaches 59, including 21 children
'That was not our setup,' Trump told reporters on Sunday, adding that he would 'not' hire back meteorologists when probed about staff and budget cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS).
Asked about whether he would change his plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he responded: 'FEMA is something we can talk about later.'
Trump, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state-level, also signed a major disaster declaration, activating FEMA and freeing up resources for Texas.
Missing girls
Around 17 helicopters joined the search in central Texas for missing people, including 10 girls and a counselor from a riverside Christian summer camp where about 750 people had been staying when disaster struck.
In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins in Camp Mystic as girls slept overnight Friday, washing away some of them and leaving a scene of devastation.
Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings at the camp were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned Sunday that slow-moving thunderstorms threatened more flash floods over the saturated ground of central Texas.
Governor Abbott warned that heavy rainfall could 'lead to potential flash flooding' in Kerrville and surrounding areas, as officials cautioned people against going near the swollen river and its creeks.
The flooding began at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, much of it coming overnight as people slept.
The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight meters) – more than a two-story building – in just 45 minutes.
'Washed away'
Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in this region of south and central Texas, known colloquially as 'Flash Flood Alley.'
Human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense in recent years.
Officials said while rescue operations were ongoing, they were also starting the process of debris removal.
'There's debris all over the place that makes roads impassable, that makes reconstruction projects unachievable,' Abbott said.
People from elsewhere in the state converged on Kerr County to help look for the missing.
Texans also started flying personal drones to help look but local officials urged them to stop, citing a danger for rescue aircraft.
One of the searches focused on four young women who were staying in a house that was washed away by the river. Adam Durda and his wife Amber, both 45, drove three hours to help.
'There was a group of 20-year-olds that were in a house that had gotten washed away,' Durda told AFP.
'That's who the family requested help for, but of course, we're looking for anybody.'
Justin Morales, 36, was part of a search team that found three bodies, including that of a Camp Mystic girl caught up in a tree.
'We're happy to give a family closure and hopefully we can keep looking and find some of the… you know, whoever,' he told AFP.
'Help give some of those families closure. That's why we're out here.'
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Express Tribune
2 hours ago
- Express Tribune
More than 160 people still missing days after deadly Texas floods
Boerne Search and Rescue teams navigate upstream in an inflatable boat on the flooded Guadalupe River on July 4, 2025 in Comfort, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. PHOTO: AFP More than 160 people remain unaccounted for after devastating floods in Texas, the state governor said, marking a dramatic increase in the number of missing from a tragedy that has so far claimed 109 lives. Four days after flash floods roared through several Texas counties, some in the middle of the night, hopes of finding survivors were fading -- and Governor Greg Abbott warned that the list of those unaccounted for could yet rise. "Just in the Kerr County area alone, there are 161 people who are known to be missing," he told reporters Tuesday as the grim search continued. "There very likely could be more added to that list," he said, adding that the figure was based on people reported as unaccounted for by friends, relatives and neighbors. Kerr County, part of a central Texas region known as "Flash Flood Alley," suffered the most damage, with at least 94 fatalities. That includes at least 27 girls and counselors who were staying at a youth summer camp on the Guadalupe River when it burst its banks as the Fourth of July holiday began in the early hours of Friday. Torrents of water swept through the camp, scouring cabins as hundreds of people slept. Five campers and one counselor were still missing as of Tuesday evening, according to Abbot, as well as another child not associated with the camp. "There's nothing more important in our hearts and minds than the people of this community, especially those who are still lost," Abbot said. Elsewhere in the state, there have been at least 15 fatalities recorded so far, the governor added. Ben Baker with the Texas Game Wardens said search and rescue efforts involving helicopters, drones and dogs were extremely difficult because of the water and mud. "When we're trying to make these recoveries, these large piles can be very obstructive, and to get in deep into these piles, it's very hazardous," Baker said. "It's extremely treacherous, time-consuming. It's dirty work, the water is still there." The US National Weather Service on Tuesday declared a flash flood emergency in Ruidoso, a small town 184 miles (296 kilometers) south of Albuquerque, in the neighboring state of New Mexico. Officials reported several people were trapped by sudden floodwaters, with multiple homes sustaining damage. The NWS said the Rio Ruidoso may have crested more than 20 feet (six meters). In the town of Hunt, the epicenter of the disaster, an AFP team saw recovery workers combing through piles of debris with helicopters flying overhead. Javier Torres, 24, was digging through mud as he searched for the body of his grandmother, after having located the remains of his grandfather. He also discovered the bodies of two children, apparently washed up by the river. Officials warned of more heavy rain ahead that could affect the search -- though Baker said it "won't deter" the efforts. President Donald Trump is due to visit Texas with First Lady Melania Trump on Friday. "We brought in a lot of helicopters from all over... They were real pros, and they were responsible for pulling out a lot of people," Trump said. Meanwhile, questions intensified over whether Trump's government funding cuts had weakened warning systems, and over the handling of the rescue operation. During an at-times tense news conference, Baker skirted a question on the speed of the emergency response. "Right now, this team up here is focused on bringing people home," he said. Shel Winkley, a weather expert at the Climate Central research group, blamed the extent of the disaster on geography and exceptional drought, when dry soil absorbs less rainfall. "This part of Texas, at least in the Kerr County flood specifically, was in an extreme to exceptional drought... We know that since May, temperatures have been above average," Winkley told reporters. The organization's media director, Tom Di Liberto, said staffing shortages at the National Weather Service had contributed to the disaster. "You can't necessarily replace that experience," he said.
Express Tribune
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Texas flood kills at least 109, with many missing after flash flooding
A drone view shows the Guadalupe River and damage from flooding near Camp Mystic, in Hunt, Texas, U.S. July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Evan Garcia The death toll from the July Fourth flash flood that ravaged a swath of central Texas Hill Country rose on Tuesday to at least 109, many of them children, as search teams pressed on through mounds of mud-encrusted debris looking for scores of people still missing. According to figures released by Governor Gregg Abbott, authorities were seeking more than 180 people whose fate remained unknown four days after one of the deadliest US flood events in decades. The bulk of fatalities and the search for additional victims were concentrated in Kerr County and the county seat of Kerrville, a town of 25,000 residents transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, flooding the Guadalupe River basin. 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Rice has said the outcome was unforeseen and unfolded in a matter of two hours, leaving too little time to conduct a precautionary mass evacuation without the risk of placing more people in harm's way. Scientists have said extreme flood events are growing more common as climate change creates warmer, wetter weather patterns in Texas and other parts of the country. At an earlier news briefing on Tuesday, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha rebuffed questions about the county's emergency operations and preparedness and declined to say who was ultimately in charge of monitoring weather alerts and issuing flood warnings or evacuation orders. He said his office began receiving emergency-911 calls between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday, several hours after the local National Weather Service station issued a flash-flood alert. "We're in the process of trying to put (together) a timeline," Leitha said. 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Business Recorder
a day ago
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Death toll from Texas flood hits triple-digits as tally of missing tops 180
KERRVILLE: The death toll from the July Fourth flash flood that ravaged a swath of central Texas Hill Country rose on Tuesday to at least 109, many of them children, as search teams pressed on through mounds of mud-encrusted debris looking for scores of people still missing. According to figures released by Governor Gregg Abbott, authorities were seeking more than 180 people whose fate remained unknown four days after one of the deadliest U.S. flood events in decades. The bulk of fatalities and the search for additional victims were concentrated in Kerr County and the county seat of Kerrville, a town of 25,000 residents transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, flooding the Guadalupe River basin. The bodies of 94 flood victims, about a third of them children, have been recovered in Kerr County alone as of Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said at a late-afternoon news conference after touring the area by air. The Kerr County dead include 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old all-girls Christian summer retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe near the town of Hunt. The camp director also perished. Five girls and a camp counselor were still unaccounted for on Tuesday, Abbott said, along with another child not associated with the camp. As of Tuesday, 15 other flood-related fatalities had been confirmed across a swath of Texas Hill Country known as 'flash flood alley,' the governor said, bringing the overall tally of lives lost to 109. Reports from local sheriffs' and media have put the number of flood deaths outside Kerr County at 22. But authorities have said they were bracing for the death toll to climb as flood waters recede and the search for more victims gains momentum. Law enforcement agencies have compiled a list of 161 people 'known to be missing' in Kerr County alone, Abbott said. The roster was checked against those who might be out of touch with loved ones or neighbors because they were away on vacation or out of town, according to the governor. 'Find every single person' He said another 12 people were missing elsewhere across the flood zone as a whole, a sprawling area northwest of San Antonio. 'We need to find every single person who is missing. That's job number one,' Abbott said. On Tuesday, San Antonio-born country singer Pat Green disclosed on social media that his younger brother and sister-in-law and two of their children were among those 'swept away in the Kerrville flood.' Hindered by intermittent thunderstorms and showers, rescue teams from federal agencies, neighboring states and Mexico have joined local efforts to search for missing victims, though hopes of finding more survivors faded as time passed. The last victim found alive in Kerr County was last Friday. 'The work is extremely treacherous, time-consuming,' Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said at a press conference. 'It's dirty work. The water is still there.' A water-soaked family photo album was among the personal belongings found in flood debris by Sandi Gilmer, 46, a U.S. Army veteran and certified chaplain volunteering in the search operation along the Guadalupe at Hunt. 'I don't know how many people in this album are alive or deceased,' she said, flipping through images of two toddlers and a gray-haired man. 'I didn't have the heart to step over it without picking it up and hoping to return it to a family member.' Making of a disaster More than a foot of rain fell in the region in less than an hour before dawn last Friday, sending a wall of water cascading down the Guadalupe that killed dozens of people and left mangled piles of debris, uprooted trees and overturned vehicles. Public officials have faced days of questions about whether they could have alerted people in flood-prone areas sooner. The state emergency management agency warned last Thursday, on the eve of the disaster, that parts of central Texas faced a flash floods threat, based on National Weather Service forecasts. Texas flood witness recalls furniture, trees and RVs swept down river But twice as much rain as 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 has said the outcome was unforeseen and unfolded in a matter of two hours, leaving too little time to conduct a precautionary mass evacuation without the risk of placing more people in harm's way. Scientists have said extreme flood events are growing more common as climate change creates warmer, wetter weather patterns in Texas and other parts of the country. At an earlier news briefing on Tuesday, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha rebuffed questions about the county's emergency operations and preparedness and declined to say who was ultimately in charge of monitoring weather alerts and issuing flood warnings or evacuation orders. He said his office began receiving emergency-911 calls between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday, several hours after the local National Weather Service station issued a flash-flood alert. 'We're in the process of trying to put (together) a timeline,' Leitha said. Abbott said a special session of the Texas legislature would convene later this month to investigate the emergency response and provide funding for disaster relief.
