What happened in the hours before, during and after a catastrophic deluge hit Texas Hill Country

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2 days ago

For many families, the most serious warnings about the deadly and raging torrent in Texas Hill Country last week came too late. Many were asleep. Others, in a region long accustomed to extreme weather, were kept up by heavy bursts of rain and earsplitting cracks of thunder that shook buildings.
'I thought it was just lightning and thunderstorm,' recalled Caroline Cutrona, a counselor at Camp Mystic, where young girls bonded in rustic cabins with names like the Bubble Inn and the Giggle Box. 'I had no idea of the severity.'
She was not alone. Still, state emergency management officials had activated emergency response resources as early as Wednesday evening, warning of potential flooding heading into the July Fourth holiday weekend. The alerts – including critical warnings the National Weather Service said gave preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred – would grow more dire.
Torrential rains transformed the pristine Guadalupe River, unleashing roaring cascades in the predawn hours of Independence Day along 40 miles of Kerr County, claiming at least 103 lives there alone, including 36 children. The confirmed death toll in Texas was 129 as of Friday evening.
At least 150 people are still missing statewide – at least 140 of them in Kerr County.
More than a summer's worth of rain had fallen in the area overnight into the holiday, swelling part of the river from about 3 feet to 30 feet in just 45 minutes and turning the beloved waterway into a killer. The catastrophic deluge laid waste to communities across Kerr and Kendall counties, where neighborhoods and RV parks, as well as the 18 or so youth camps attended by thousands of kids each summer, were swept away in its fury.
'The first thing I thought, 'This is not real. Wake up, Caroline. Wake up,'' Cutrona told CNN's Anderson Cooper. ''I'm in a dream,' and that's what I wanted it to be.'
Here's what we know about how a nightmare scenario unfolded in Texas:The Texas Division of Emergency Management announces activation of state emergency response resources in anticipation of 'increased threats of flooding in parts of West and Central Texas heading into the holiday weekend.' It urges residents to 'follow instructions from local officials, make an emergency plan, and prepare an emergency supply kit.'The National Weather Service issues short-term guidance, valid until Thursday afternoon, indicating morning thunderstorms and a humid, moist environment capable of producing flooding rainfall. The guidance flags the NWS office for Austin and San Antonio to note the flood risk.The NWS releases a flood outlook noting flash or river flooding is possible in parts of Central Texas over the coming days. It describes a very tropical atmosphere with the potential for producing flooding rainfall in central and southern Texas.County judges and city mayors are invited to join a daily call to discuss weather forecasts. A regional coordinator reached out personally to officials in the area, making sure they 'were aware there could be flooding,' Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick later said.
'The message was sent,' Patrick said. 'It is up to the local counties and mayors under the law to evacuate if they feel the need.'
'I will tell you personally, I did not receive a call,' Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. told reporters this week, adding he could not speak for the Kerr County judge.The NWS issues a flood watch, highlighting Kerrville, among other locations, as being at risk of flash flooding through the night into Friday. It forecast 5 to 7 inches of rainfall.The NWS issues an updated forecast for the Guadalupe River: 'Rapid runoff is expected, with locally considerable flash and urban flash flooding possible … the nocturnal timing will also enhance the hazard potential and impacts.' It notes the potential for a historic rainfall event, though it's unclear if that messaging reached emergency managers.
The weather service's forecast offices for Austin, San Antonio and San Angelo, as well as the West Gulf River Forecast Center in Fort Worth, assign extra personnel to work Thursday night into the next day, according to NWS spokesperson Erica Grow Cei.
Kerrville Mayor Herring later said he went outside Thursday night before the storm and looked at the sky. 'Partly cloudy. The sky was not angry and I thought to myself, 'someone's going to get rain, but it's probably not going to be us.' And I was wrong,' he said. 'I was awakened in the middle of the night by thunder. I looked outside, we had a light rain. In fact, the city of Kerrville really didn't have a lot of rain until later in the day.'Glenn Juenke, a Camp Mystic staffer, told CNN he was monitoring the rain gauges on the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority's website. 'Many of the rain gauges were out of order or offline and were useless. They provided no information about the level of rainfall upstream of Camp Mystic where I was acting in the capacity of night watchman.'The NWS issues a flash flood warning, upgraded from the earlier watch, for parts of Kerr County.Lorena Guillen, who owns an RV park and restaurant in Kerrville, told CNN she closed her restaurant around 12:45 a.m. CT after July Fourth celebrations. When rain started to pour heavier over the next two hours, she drove to the edge of the river and observed its height. The water level appeared normal, she said.
She called the Kerr County Sheriff's Office to ask whether the Guadalupe would rise with the rain and put her RV tenants in danger. She said she was assured they would be safe. About an hour after the call, Guillen said, she saw lights from a rescue team. One of the park's long-term residents had heard screaming and called 911.At Camp Mystic's Bug House cabin, owner Dick Eastland and his son, Edward, a camp director, helped a group of girls – clutching pillows and blankets – evacuate in ankle-deep water to a nearby recreation hall, a 12-year-old camper told CNN. With the water rapidly rising, the campers spent the night on the second floor, illuminated by flashlights.
'Everyone was scared because there was water coming in,' said the girl, whose mother asked she not be identified to protect her privacy.
The girls sang, prayed and slept until about 6 a.m. when the rain stopped. When counselors did a roll call later, the girls realized some campers were missing.
At Chatterbox cabin at the same camp, girls screamed as floodwaters swept inside, according to 9-year-old twin sisters who were there. Their mother also asked they not be identified. One twin let campers keep their 'lovies' and 'stuffies' on her top bunk for safety.
The twins said they watched a car they believed would rescue them wash away in a surge of water. With counselors, the campers climbed out a window and waded through chest-high waters to higher ground. They later learned three Chatterbox campers were among the missing. 'We didn't know if they got … washed away in the rapids,' one girl said.
'Whenever we were cold, they kept giving us hugs and we were crying, they would always comfort us,' one twin said of the counselors.
A rainbow appeared later that morning – which the girls said was 'a sign from God.'A local firefighter calls dispatch to report high water on the main highway getting to Hunt, Texas, from the east. 'Yes ma'am … Guadalupe is starting to come up and Schumacher is no longer passable at this time,' the firefighter says, referring to the scenic Schumacher Crossing over the river.Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said first responders started to get swept away by floodwaters. 'That's how quick it happened,' Rice said. 'First responders who have experience, who are swift-water qualified.'A dispatcher tells first responders about people in distress along State Highway 39, which crosses the Guadalupe and runs through Texas Hill Country: 'We're getting multiple calls off of 39. People are stating their houses are flooding. We're trying to advise them to get to higher area.'Camp Mystic counselor Caroline Cutrona said the roar of thunder and lighting kept her awake. She noticed the camp had lost power. The cabin, where she watched over 14 girls ages 9 and 10, shook violently.
Around the same time, video obtained by CNN shows a cabin at the boys Camp La Junta floating away in the floodwaters.The NWS issues a flash flood emergency warning for Kerr County, stating, 'Move to higher ground now! This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.'A firefighter calls dispatch, asking for a CodeRED emergency alert to be issued: 'Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents, asking them to find higher ground or stay home?' The dispatcher responds: 'Stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor.'A gauge along the Guadalupe River, in Kerrville, shows water levels hit 23.4 feet. Water levels in that spot almost certainly crested above 23.4 feet, but the gauge didn't record data for three hours – between 4:45 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. local time –before picking back up its measurement.The raging river bursts from its banks around this time, sweeping homes, cars, campers and cabins downstream. It took about 90 minutes for the 20-foot flood wave to move down the Guadalupe River overnight, triggering the river's second-highest crest on record.Kerr Fire dispatch announces: 'The river is completely swollen … there is a car with occupants in it floating down the river.'
Rice, the Kerrville city manager, started getting phone calls around 5 a.m. local time. 'By the time we got back out there, the river had already risen 20 or 25 feet. It rose significantly in that amount of time. We almost got stuck when we went back,' he told CNN. 'Nobody could have ever predicted this.'Notifications sent by Kendall County indicate the first wireless emergency message for a flood warning was sent to residents at this time. Three more alerts were issued on the wireless warning system between 7 a.m. and 8:06 a.m. CT.
Herring, Kerrville's mayor, told reporters: 'I individually did not receive a warning in time. When I woke up, I got a call from the city manager' around 5:30 a.m. local time. He said he went downtown and Louise Hays Park, which is perched on the river, 'was already inundated. That was the first time I knew.'A unit identified as 'Utility 51' asks a dispatcher at Kerr County Fire Operations: 'Can you advise who's running command?'
Central dispatch responds: 'Sir, we don't have an incident command right now.'The NWS issues a more dire flash flood emergency warning of an imminent threat, specifically for Kerrville.The US Coast Guard receives an initial call, although their specific launch time is unavailable. What was supposed to be an hourlong flight took between seven and eight hours due to weather conditions, according to the air crew.Mayor Herring Jr. told the Texas Tribune he received an alert on his phone from the CodeRED system.Video obtained by CNN showed law enforcement officers in Kerr County shouting evacuation orders.Kerr County posted on social media: 'Flooding along the Guadalupe River is happening now. Be safe and move to higher ground. Do not drive through water. Turn Around - Don't Drown!'The Kerr County Sheriff's Office confirms people have died during the 'catastrophic flooding event' in a post on social media. 'Those near creeks, streams, and the Guadalupe River should immediately move to higher ground,' the post said.A source told CNN affiliate KSAT neither the Kerr County Sheriff's Office nor the Kerrville Police Department sent a CodeRED Alert to some residents until this time.Kerr County officials declare a disaster due to 'extreme, life-threatening' flooding.
When everyone remaining at Camp Mystic had finished lunch, Cutrona said one of the camp's directors pulled counselors aside and informed them 27 girls and the camp's owner, Dick Eastland, were missing. 'Camp Mystic's the safest place I've ever known, and I just couldn't believe it,' Cutrona said.The US Coast Guard's MH-65 air crew arrives in the area and begins to rescue survivors. It is uncertain what time the air crew completed rescue efforts.
'The last live rescue, unless there's new information, and I don't believe there is, was made on Friday,' Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said.
As searchers agonizingly scour the area for unaccounted flood victims, local officials have been adamant they could not have done more to prevent the tragedy.
CNN's Pamela Brown, Andrew Freedman, Emma Tucker, Mary Gilbert, Holly Yan, Alisha Ebrahimji, Alaa Elassar and Dalia Faheid contributed to this report.