Texas Flood Live Updates: At Least 94 Dead As White House Responds

Forbes

5 days ago

At least 94 people—including 28 children—have been killed in what the White House has called a 'once-in-a-generation natural disaster' in central Texas as attempts to place blame for the high death toll rage on.
Members of a rescue team look for missing people on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas. AFP via Getty Images
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday afternoon told reporters that 'blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie' as claims mount that the public wasn't properly warned of the danger.
The National Weather Service has defended its alerts, which first started 12 hours before the storm, and said they provided "preliminary lead times of more than three hours."
Leavitt said Trump plans to visit Texas later this week, likely Friday, but no firm schedule has been announced.
Kerr County officials on Monday said 75 bodies have been recovered from weekend flooding, including two dozen victims who have yet to be identified, in addition to at least 19 victims from nearby areas.
The death toll for the catastrophic flooding is expected to rise, state authorities said Sunday, and rescue teams are still searching for a group of 10 girls who were attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, as well as one counselor, according to Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha.
On Monday morning, Camp Mystic confirmed 27 campers and counselors have died and local police in Kerrville, Texas, which took the brunt of the flooding, asked non-residents to avoid the area, saying first responders have been hampered by "sightseers who are making things worse."
A flood watch is in effect through Monday evening across much of central Texas, including for Kerr County, which saw some of the worst flooding in the state during a catastrophic event Friday.
The National Weather Service is warning rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying land could flood as up to 10 more inches of rain has the potential to fall before 7 p.m. Monday.
At least 400 first responders from over 20 agencies have been deployed to conduct rescue and recovery operations in the impacted areas, the sheriff said, and 850 people have been rescued across Kerr County.
'We're seeing bodies recovered all over, up and down,' Kerrville City Manager Rice Dalton said Sunday, as search-and-rescue operations focused on finding the remaining missing campers.
Abbott said state officials will be 'relentless in going after and assuring that we locate every single person who's been a victim of this flooding event.'
President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County on Sunday morning, while Abbott declared Sunday a 'day of prayer.'
Yes. In its latest update shortly after midnight on Monday, the National Weather Service's Austin and San Antonio office warned: 'There remains a threat of flash flooding overnight and through the day on Monday' in the affected areas. The agency said it would difficult to 'pinpoint exact locations where isolated heavier amounts occur' but warned that any additional heavy downpour could lead to 'rapid runoff and flash flooding.' The warning covers the cities of Llano, Fredericksburg, Bastrop, Uvalde, Blanco, Georgetown, Lockhart, Bandera, Austin, Rocksprings, San Antonio, Boerne, Hondo, New Braunfels, Seguin, Leakey, Kerrville, San Marcos, Giddings and Burnet. How Many Deaths Have Been Confirmed From The Floods?
Authorities in Kerr County confirmed at least 75 people, including more than two dozen children, were killed in the floods. Freeman Martin, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the death toll is expected to rise. At least 15 more deaths have been reported by local authorities in other nearby counties. One woman was found dead in a submerged car in Tom Green County, the San Angelo Police Department confirmed on social media Saturday. Two people have been recovered in Williamson County, and a third is still missing, officials said. At least three more people were found dead in Burnet County, the Burnet County Sheriff's Office reported after search-and-rescue operations rescued over 63 residents. At least seven people have died in Travis County, according to multiple reports, while officials in Kendall County confirmed six residents have died.
W. Nim Kidd, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, faulted the National Weather Service for not predicting 'the amount of rain we saw,' though alerts were issued beforehand and as it became clear the region was facing a flash flood emergency. The NWS issued a flash flood watch Thursday afternoon that noted Kerr County, where much of the flooding began early Friday morning, was a particularly vulnerable area, along with more urgent flash flood emergency alerts in the overnight hours as the disaster unfolded. The NWS was one of several federal agencies targeted by the controversial cost-cutting efforts of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, and has recently laid off nearly 600 employees—around the same amount of staffers it lost in the 15 previous years, the Texas Tribune reported. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Trump administration would 'honor' a federal disaster declaration from Abbott, who also declared Sunday a 'day of prayer' as first responders search for the missing campers. Why Weren't Summer Camps Evacuated?
Although the NWS issued warnings about the incoming weather system and the potential for massive flooding as early as Friday morning, it remains unclear why Camp Mystic and other summer camps in the area were not evacuated sooner. 'That is a great question,' Kerrville City Manager Rice Dalton said when pressed about this Sunday, but did not provide an answer. Instead, Dalton said the city was still focused on searching for the remaining missing children. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, when he was asked why camps along the Guadalupe were not evacuated, told reporters Friday, 'I can't answer that, I don't know,' before saying the county had 'no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what's happened here.' Could There Be More Flooding?
There is still a risk for more rain in central Texas. The NWS issued another flood watch for north-central Texas through Sunday evening, as well as a flash flood warning for parts of Bosque, Hill, Johnson and Somervell Counties as heavy rains inundate the region. Was The National Weather Service Properly Staffed?
A representative for the union for NWS employees told CNN that the offices in Austin and San Antonio had 'adequate staffing and resources,' but also said the San Antonio office was missing a coordination meteorologist to work directly with emergency managers. When asked by a reporter from Kerrville if the government's preparedness was a 'failure,' Noem said the Trump administration was trying to 'upgrade' the technology the NWS uses to send alerts and notify the public about catastrophic weather events. 'For decades, for years, everybody knows that the weather is extremely difficult to predict, but also that the National Weather Service has done well,' Noem said at a press conference alongside Abbott. 'And at times we have all wanted more time, and more warning, and more alerts, and more notification.' Noem added the Trump administration is working to update what she called an 'ancient system' that 'has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years.'
Some NWS field offices have reported the loss of around-the-clock staffing and reductions in weather balloon launches, which are crucial in collecting data on humidity, pressure, temperature and more elements needed to produce forecasts. Longtime meteorologist Troy Kimmel, who leads his own meteorological services company, told CBS Austin in May that local Texas offices such as the Austin/San Antonio office experienced some staffing shortages. The Austin/San Antonio office's website shows six vacancies across its meteorological, management, observations and technician teams, though it is not clear how many of the vacancies are a direct result of cuts engineered by the Department of Government Efficiency. Forbes has reached out to the NWS for comment. What Has Trump Said About The Flooding?
Trump said Friday the deaths reported in Texas were 'shocking' and that the government would work with Abbott to provide federal aid. Trump has insisted states should play a larger role in handling their own weather disasters, saying last month his administration intends to 'wean' states off help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency following this year's hurricane season. Speaking alongside Abbott on Saturday, Noem seemed to double down on this idea. 'We recognize that when something like this happens to a community, happens to a state, that the best responders are those locally because it's your family members, it's your community members that are being impacted, and you can respond quickly,' she said at a press conference. Noem repeated the position that the state should 'run and manage' emergency responses, but said that the federal government would still 'be here for the support and extra resources on the ground.' FEMA has lost hundreds of employees since Trump took office and ended its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which awarded around $4.6 billion to communities throughout the U.S. in an effort to prepare them for future weather disasters. What To Watch For
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for San Antonio and several neighboring cities, warning of two to four inches of additional rainfall and excessive runoff that may result in flash flooding for rivers and creeks, low-lying areas and low water crossings. What Do We Know About The Children Missing From Camp Mystic?
The children considered missing as of Saturday were attending an all-girls Christian summer camp called Camp Mystic. The camp has been operational since 1926 and operates two sites along the Guadalupe River. Former First Lady Laura Bush was once a drama counselor at the camp her daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, said on the Today show Monday. The organization told parents in an email Friday morning it experienced 'catastrophic level floods.' according to The New York Times. Big Number
Over 1,000. That is how many rescuers were deployed in Texas on Saturday morning, the Associated Press reported. Key Background
The Guadalupe River has had a history of floods, with one of the most prominent incidents occurring in 1987, when five to 10 inches of rain fell in the upper headwaters of the river's basin. The river crested at 31.5 feet and flooding resulted in the deaths of 10 teenagers and 33 injuries. Inclement weather in Texas may continue in the coming months, as it and several other states are approaching the most active part of the 2025 hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, forecasting a range of 13 to 19 named storms, six to 10 of which are forecast to become hurricanea.
Mary Whitfill Roeloffs and Siladitya Ray also contributed to this report.