Texas Floods: Over 80 Dead, Including 28 Children, As Search For Missing Continues
The floods were triggered by an unprecedented downpour, reports indicate rainfall may have reached up to 15 inches in under an hour
Rescue teams in central Texas are racing to locate dozens still missing after flash floods swept through the region, claiming the lives of more than 80 people, including 28 children. Local authorities have warned that further rain could bring more devastation.
In Kerr County—the hardest-hit area—Sheriff Larry Leitha confirmed the deaths of 68 people, among them 28 children, all victims of the Saturday morning deluge. Nearby counties in south-central Texas reported at least 14 more fatalities. Across the state, 41 individuals are known to be missing, Governor Greg Abbott announced.
Teams deployed 17 helicopters and drones alongside ground crews in the search, focusing especially on Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River. The camp, which sheltered around 750 people, was struck when floodwaters surged overnight, sweeping away cabins and campers. Ten girls and a counsellor remain unaccounted for at the site.
Over 850 residents across the region have been rescued so far. Emergency services, including boats, helicopters, and drones, continue to patrol flooded rivers and debris-laden terrain, contending with searing heat, snakes, and unstable ground.
The floods were triggered by an unprecedented downpour, reports indicate rainfall may have reached up to 15 inches in under an hour. This caused the normally placid Guadalupe River to rise by as much as 26 feet in mere minutes, engulfing nearby towns.
Governor Abbott has called for a review of local warning systems and flood forecasting accuracy. Some residents have raised concerns about whether the event could have been anticipated more effectively.
When asked about reports that budget cuts had impacted the National Weather Service (NWS), Trump said he would not consider rehiring meteorologists. He also declined to confirm whether he would reverse plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), saying, 'FEMA is something we can talk about later."
Despite his previous stance that disaster response should be handled at the state level, Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday, authorising federal assistance and activating FEMA to support rescue and relief operations in Texas.
(With inputs from AFP)
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India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Texas flash floods kill 89, dozens missing including children at Camp Mystic
At least 89 people have been confirmed dead due to catastrophic flash floods in Texas. Torrential rain swept through Kerr County and surrounding areas, particularly along the Guadalupe River, causing widespread devastation. Among those missing are several girls attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp in the RAINFALL HITS OVERNIGHTAs reported by the Associated Press, the flooding began in the early hours of Friday, catching many residents off guard while they were asleep. The National Weather Service had issued a flood watch Thursday afternoon, followed by an urgent warning around 4 a.m. In just 45 minutes, the Guadalupe River rose by 26 feet after over a foot of rain fell overnight. The Texas Hill Country's dry and compact soil, unable to absorb water quickly, worsened the climb over debris on a bridge atop the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area. Officials in Kerr County reported 75 fatalities, including 27 reported by Reuters, A Christian all-girls camp in central Texas said on Monday that 27 campers and counsellors were among those who perished in the catastrophic flooding over the July 4 weekend, while emergency responders still searching for dozens of missing people faced the prospect of more heavy rains and Greg Abbott confirmed on Sunday that 41 individuals were officially listed as missing statewide. Local authorities are facing tough questions about the timing of flood alerts. Survivors described the event as a 'pitch-black wall of death' and said no emergency warnings reached them before the waters surged. Officials acknowledged communication gaps, citing power outages and limited cell coverage in rural are now underway to evaluate the region's emergency alert systems and potentially implement a more robust flood warning protocol. The flooding destroyed infrastructure, homes, and entire search for missing people along the banks of the Guadalupe River after recent flooding on Sunday.'It will take a long time to clean up, let alone rebuild,' said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly. Relief efforts have begun, and President Donald Trump has announced plans to visit the affected area on Friday.- EndsMust Watch
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
Girls camp grieves loss of 27 campers and counselors in Texas floods that killed nearly 90 people
Flash flood warning systems: Crews picked through mountains of debris and waded into swollen rivers Monday in the search for victims of catastrophic flooding that killed nearly 90 people over the July Fourth weekend in Texas, including more than two dozen campers and counselors from an all-girls Christian camp. With additional rain on the way, more flooding still threatened in saturated parts of central Texas. Authorities said the death toll was sure to rise as crews looked for many people who were missing. Operators of Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, said they lost 27 campers and counselors, confirming their worst fears after a wall of water slammed into cabins built along the edge of the Guadalupe River. 'We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls,' the camp said in a statement. Authorities later said that 10 girls and a counselor from the camp remain missing. The raging flash floods — among the nation's worst in decades — slammed into riverside camps and homes before daybreak Friday, pulling sleeping people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and automobiles. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses, refrigerators, coolers and canoes now litter the riverbanks. Search-and-rescue teams used heavy equipment near Kerrville to remove large branches while volunteers covered in mud sorted through chunks of debris, piece by piece. In the Hill Country area, home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, searchers have found the bodies of 75 people, including 27 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. Fourteen other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials. Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday that 41 people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing. Authorities vowed that one of the next steps will be investigating whether enough warnings were issued and why some camps did not evacuate or move to higher ground in areas long vulnerable to flooding. Search-and-rescue crews at one staging area said Monday that more than 1,000 volunteers had been directed to an area of hard-hit Kerr County. Families were allowed to look around Camp Mystic beginning Sunday morning. A man whose daughter was rescued from a cabin on the highest point in the camp walked a riverbank, looking in clumps of trees and under big rocks. One family left with a blue footlocker. A teenage girl had tears running down her face as they slowly drove away and she gazed through the open window at the wreckage. Reagan Brown said his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt. When the couple learned that their 92-year-old neighbor was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her. 'Then they were able to reach their tool shed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their tool shed, and they all rode it out together,' Brown said. Among those confirmed dead were an 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at the camp, and the director of another camp up the road. Two school-age sisters from Dallas were missing Sunday after their cabin was swept away. Their parents were staying in a different cabin and were safe, but the girls' grandparents were unaccounted for. On Thursday the National Weather Service advised of potential flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare step that alerts the public to imminent danger. Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months of rain. Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said one of the challenges is that many camps are in places with poor cellphone service. President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County and said he would likely visit Friday. He said it wasn't the time to talk about whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency and added that he doesn't plan to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread government spending cuts. 'This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it,' the president said. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said recent cuts to FEMA and the National Weather Service did not delay any warnings. 'There's a time to have political fights, there's a time to disagree. This is not that time,' Cruz said. 'There will be a time to find out what could been done differently. My hope is in time we learn some lessons to implement the next time there is a flood.'
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Texas flooding: Kerr County said no to alert sirens over cost — now it's facing the consequences
Kerr County Siren System Rejected Over Cost Concerns State Bill to Improve Alerts Failed in Senate Lawmakers Now Rethinking Their Vote Live Events Flash Flood Strikes While Residents Slept No Backup Alert System in Place Governor Acknowledges Need for Change FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel When the Guadalupe River rose from one foot to over 34 feet in just a few hours, inundating parts of Kerr County in the early morning on Friday while most residents were asleep and by the time many realized what was happening, it was already too late, as per a report. This has led to increased scrutiny about Kerr County's past decisions to reject an outdoor siren alert system because of cost concerns, as reported by Latin Kerr County is located in a flood-prone region of the Texas Hill Country, there were proposals for siren-based warning systems, but they were previously rejected because of the financial burden on local taxpayers, according to the this year, an effort at the state level to improve the emergency communication infrastructure, House Bill 13, failed in the Texas Senate, as reported by Latin Times. Bill 13 was to fund the improved disaster alert systems and provided grants for counties to build infrastructure like sirens and radio towers, as per the READ: Trump's tariffs may split the world into 3 rival blocs — here's where each nation could land But a few lawmakers, like state Rep. Wes Virdell, had voted against it because of its projected $500 million cost, though several now are saying that they would reconsider their stance as flash flooding killed about 82 people statewide, with 68 of them in Kerr County alone, according to Latin Times who were killed were attending camps or camping along the river, and even though mobile alerts were issued via the National Weather Service, many residents are believed to have not seen the warnings because they were issued in the early morning hours, or many even lacked access to mobile devices, as per the READ: Flyers fume as Southwest Airlines shocks passengers with policy changes — key updates you need to know According to the report, only a county-wide siren system could have served as a secondary, audible layer of alert, which Kerr County never implemented. Now the local and state officials are trying to search, conduct rescue operations, and support survivors, as per Latin Gov. Greg Abbott now admitted to the potential value of better alert systems and highlighted that future legislation might address the issue, but he declined to commit to including it in the special session beginning July 21, as reported by Latin READ: Wolfspeed stock soars over 100% after shock CFO appointment — who is Gregor van Issum? The county had considered outdoor sirens in the past but rejected the idea, citing cost rains caused the Guadalupe River to rise over 34 feet in just a few hours, as per Latin Times.
