Rescuers search around Camp Mystic for survivors of Texas flash floods
Texas Governor Greg Abbott and rescue crews scoured the camp on Saturday, July 6th, to find the missing girls and other possible victims.
Officials have reported that the storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain starting on Friday, July 4th, 2025, and continued into the weekend.
It has now been confirmed that at least 43 people have died in Kerr County and another 8 in nearby counties due to the flood.
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The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Texas weather forecast: More rain and thunderstorms predicted after flash floods kill at least 82 people
A fresh spell of thunderstorms and flash flooding could strike across central Texas, forecasts show, following devastating floods in the region that have killed at least 82 people. 'Thunderstorms are expected to increase across portions of central TX over the next few hours with areas of slow movement and locally heavy rainfall,' the National Weather Service said in a forecast discussion on Sunday night. Flash flooding is possible across the Heartland, Concho Valley, Edwards Plateau, and Northwest Hill County Monday morning, bringing an additional 1-3 inches of rain, the NWS added. The rainfall could 'quickly lead to flooding,' it said. A flood watch remains in place across western Central Texas until 7pm local time on Monday, the NWS added. Texas was devastated by an unexpected spell of severe flash floods over the weekend after the Guadalupe River surged, destroying all in its path and leaving dozens unaccounted for. Officials said local radar imagery across central Texas Sunday showed 'the beginning stages of a renewed shower/thunderstorm development' just east of Interstate 35 from Austin to Jarrell. Over 400 rescue officials are continuing a frantic search for 11 girls and one counselor who were staying at Camp Mystic campers in the Hill Country area – 100 miles north of San Antonio – when the flash floods hit Friday. As of Sunday afternoon, Kerr County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) said they had recovered 40 adults and 28 children – but 18 adults and 10 children were yet to be identified, they said. Ten other deaths were reported in surrounding areas, Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson counties, according to local officials. Kerr County officials shared that more rain fell in the upper Guadalupe basin Sunday, which led to a rise in Johnson Creek. Along with staying safe amid the storms, KCSO warned residents to stay vigilant regarding the spread of social media rumors and misinformation online. President Trump has come under fire following the surge in adverse weather, with critics blaming recent government cuts to the NWS for the tragedy. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who visited Texas on Saturday, thanked the President after he signed a major disaster declaration, which offered federal assistance to the state. 'We are currently deploying federal emergency management resources to Texas first responders, and will work closely with state and local authorities to ensure the people of Texas get the support they need as search efforts continue and recovery begins,' Noem said on Sunday evening. 'Pray for the victims, the families, and our first responders. God bless Texas.' Governor Greg Abbott, who stood with Noem at the Saturday press conference, said: 'When Texans face a challenge, we come together, we unite, and that's exactly what's happened over the past twenty-four to forty-eight hours in this community.' 'We will be relentless in going after and ensuring that we locate every single person who's been a victim of this flooding event. We're not going to stop today or tomorrow. This is a 24/7 operation, looking for Texans and Americans. They are our top priority, and we will find every one of them." In Kerr County, anyone who needs to report a missing loved one is urged to call the helpline at 8302581111.
The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘No warning at all': Texas flood survivors question safety planning and officials' response
As Texas marshals a formidable response to the flash floods that have already killed dozens, questions are now being posed about warnings that were given on Thursday and early Friday about the severity of the approaching storm and the co-ordination between local officials and the National Weather Service. New flood alerts were issued for Texas 'hill country' on Sunday, prompting rescue services to suspend the search for missing people, including at least 11 from Camp Mystic, the summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River hard hit by Friday's flash flood. At an early evening press briefing, Kerr county authorities said they were suspending the search and evacuating first responders from the river valley. They confirmed that 68 had died there, including 28 children. Not all have been identified, with officials still examining the bodies of 18 adults and 10 children. Extraordinary tales of resilience have also emerged alongside videos of the destruction and loss that are circulating on social media. On Sunday, a video was posted on X of girls from Camp Mystic being evacuated from the camp and singing the hymns Pass It On and Amazing Grace as they crossed a bridge over the still torrential Guadalupe River. The new round of rainfall in the area prompted an alert of a 'dangerous and life-threatening situation', it said, adding: 'Do not attempt to travel unless unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.' The co-ordination between Kerr county officials and the National Weather Service has become a flashpoint of its own. Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville, one of the hardest-hit areas, told reporters on Sunday afternoon: 'We don't want to speculate at this time. There will be a formal review that will focus on future preparedness.' When asked why Kerr county had not moved to evacuate the area before the storm hit, Rice said that authorities were preparing for the storm, 'but unfortunately the rain hit at an inopportune time and right at the most importune areas where the north and south forks of the river converge.' 'We want to focus on continuing rescue operations,' he added. Kerr county does not have outdoor weather sirens that are common in tornado zones and were once common across the US as relic of cold war nuclear attack alert systems. Since the flood, local resident Nicole Wilson started an online petition 'urgently' calling for Kerrville and Kerr county to implement an outdoor system. 'A well-placed siren system will provide critical extra minutes for families, schools, camps, businesses and visitors to seek shelter and evacuate when needed,' she told KXAN. 'This is not just a wish – it is a necessary investment in public safety.' But questions are also being asked about whether Kerr county commissioners' court and flood plains administrator had approved development along the river bank that may have skirted rules issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) that control where homes may be built in areas vulnerable to flooding. At a Red Cross center in Kerrville on Sunday, flood survivor Kathy Perkins said shehad been alerted to the storm by thunder and lightning. Emergency workers had come to her town, Ingram, and turned on their sirens. 'They were supposed to wake everyone up but I just left. It was just two guys in a white truck and they said to me: 'You gotta get out, you don't have much time.' It must have already hit in Hunt.' Perkins was luckier than some. Her trailer home was damaged by water, but some of her neighbors' homes got swept away or moved around by the water. 'Many people are angry right now, but you wait 'til the parents get here,' she said, referring to the parents of the children lost at Camp Mystic. 'Those parents are from everywhere.' The authorities, she added, 'won't just be able to go hush-hush. Those kids should have been safe and they weren't.' Perkins said everyone in the area noticed that Judge Rob Kelly, Kerr county's most senior elected official, seemed to shirk responsibility when he said on Friday: 'We didn't know this flood was coming. Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming. We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.' 'He said: 'We didn't know nothing.' Everybody caught that,' Perkins said. Lesa Baird, a resident of Hunt who was also staying at the Red Cross shelter, said she heard 'no warning at all, none whatsoever' when the floods came. 'I heard something going on. I put my feet on the floor and felt the water. I picked up a bunch a kittens in a box and woke my friend up. He had to break a window to get out of the house.' But as they got out of the home, Baird, 65, followed a cable strung from the house and reached a tree. 'We got up in the tree and he pulled me up as best he could. Thank God he did because I could dangle my foot down and feel the water. We stayed up there for what seemed like hours.' When the waters began to recede, they climbed down and walked to the local Baptist church. Now recovering from her ordeal, Baird said she'd never seen the Guadalupe River flood as badly as it had. Like many others, Baird faces the kind of limbo that affects natural disaster survivors: she wants to go home. 'There's no home to go to. It's done,' she said, declining to be photographed except for the bruises on her arms incurred during her ordeal. 'I may be able to salvage a bunch of things here and there, but this is my stuff,' she said, pointing to some bags of donated clothes.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Texas river rises 30 feet in just 45 minutes, pictures show
A chilling timelapse video has emerged showing how the Texas river of death swelled more than 30ft in just 45 minutes before claiming the lives of at least 80, including children. Sixty-eight of the fatalities, including 28 children, were in Kerr County in the early hours of the Fourth of July - when rapid rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to surge more than 30 feet above its normal level in under an hour. From around 5:15pm to 5:20pm the murky waters can be seen sweeping over a road while completely engulfing the smaller trees and bushes its path. Over the next 20 minutes, the waters creep further up the narrow road as onlookers flee the devastating scene. After the full hour has passed, only two tree tops are left visible as the flood water surges through the area. One concerned viewer wrote on social media: 'Those making remarks regarding evacuations and warnings please take note: The video begins at 5:12. Stop the video at 5:18 and look at the water level. Where does one run to in 6 minutes?' Another added: 'Beyond insane to watch the levels rise on the timelapse'. Officials in Kerr County have since warned the area near Johnson Creek and the Guadalupe River could rise by a further two feet due to incoming rain, as they announced a new wave of evacuations. Nim Kidd, Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, advised Kerr County to brace for more of the deadly rains which have already claimed the lives of at least 80 people. 'There are unconfirmed at this point reports of additional water coming in. And as the governor mentioned, there's rain still falling on the area,' Kidd said at a press conference. 'We've got DPS aircraft that are flying up to try to find this wall of water right now, and the people in the reported areas, again, unconfirmed, that are on our communication systems.' Locals in central Texas are being urged to scramble to higher ground following further flash flood warnings as a result of further rain falling on saturated ground. On July 6, Daily Mail revealed that Texas's Division of Emergency Management predicted the number of dead as a result of catastrophic flooding would top 100. In an email sent out Saturday, the state disaster office told partners the number of dead would surpass 100, two different sources confirmed to Daily Mail. The estimate of the dead is vastly different than the message state officials are projecting publicly, insisting that they are still searching for people who are alive, and refusing to say rescue efforts have shifted to recovery of remains. 'Our state assets and local partners are continuing to search for live victims,' Kidd told reporters at a press conference Saturday. 'Our hope and prayer is that there is still people alive that are out there.' DNA testing will also be used to help identify the remains of the flood victims, a state source told Daily Mail. Families have been asked for blood draws or other records to help identify the bodies of loved ones who have been recovered. Relatives of the missing have started arriving in the Kerrville area from across the Lone Star State to provide investigators with DNA samples. More information has been emerging in recent hours about the victims, including those lost at Camp Mystic. At least five girls, aged between eight and nine, lost their lives in the flood after the summer camp was swept away on July 4. Beloved director of all-girl's Christian Camp Mystic, Richard 'Dick' Eastland, 70, also died while trying to save girls as a month's worth of rain dropped in a matter of minutes. The youngest campers slept on low-laying 'flats' inside the camp's cabins, whereas older girls slept in cabins on higher ground, according to the NYT. Most of the missing girls are from the younger age bracket, who were sleeping just yards away from the banks of the Guadalupe River. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that some 750 girls had been staying at the camp when the floodwaters hit. Some of those who are missing or died at Camp Mystic are connected to wealthy families in Highland Park. Known as the Beverly Hills of Dallas, Highland Park and neighboring Park Cities are home to many of missing girls who belong to prominent families. Some have ties to Highland Park United Methodist Church - whose most famous member is former President George W. Bush.
