Catastrophic flooding in central Texas has claimed the lives of at least 82 people, including 28 children, and left dozens missing, as search and rescue efforts intensified Monday around the Guadalupe River in Kerr County. Among the hardest-hit was Camp Mystic, a century-old all-girls summer camp, where 27 campers and counselors are believed to have died after a wall of water swept through the grounds in the early hours of Friday.
"We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls," Camp Mystic said in a statement. "We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level."
The floods, triggered by a severe overnight storm that dropped 12 inches of rain in parts of the Hill Country, have turned the Fourth of July holiday into a statewide tragedy. Governor Greg Abbott said Sunday that 41 individuals remained unaccounted for across Texas, warning the toll would rise as more bodies are recovered.
Search crews in Kerr County have found 68 bodies, according to Sheriff Larry Leitha, while 10 additional deaths have been reported in surrounding counties, including Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson. The floods came on the heels of a flash flood emergency issued at 4 a.m. Friday, but many survivors said they received no effective warnings.
Survivors from Camp Mystic described harrowing rescues, including one cabin of girls who crossed a bridge with water whipping around their legs, clinging to a rope strung by rescuers. An 8-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, was confirmed among the dead. Two sisters from Dallas were missing after their cabin was swept away. Their parents survived, but their grandparents remain unaccounted for.
"We don't even want to begin to estimate at this time," Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said Saturday, citing an influx of holiday visitors and the scale of the disaster zone.
The flash floods struck an area long known for its vulnerability. The dry, compacted soil of the Hill Country accelerates runoff, and officials say the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes. Residents recounted dramatic escapes from rising waters. Reagan Brown said his elderly parents fled their home uphill and returned to rescue a 92-year-old neighbor trapped in her attic.
"They were able to reach their toolshed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their toolshed, and they all rode it out together," Brown said.
President Donald Trump, who signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, told reporters, "It's a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible." He said he would visit the area Friday. Asked whether he still intended to phase out FEMA, Trump replied, That was something "we can talk about later, but right now we are busy working."
Questions have emerged over whether adequate warnings were issued to residents and camp operators. Despite early forecasts, some officials have admitted they didn't expect the severity. "Nobody saw this coming," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said Saturday. "It's going to be a long time before we're ever able to clean it up, much less rebuild it."
Survivors described the flooding as a "pitch black wall of death." Some residents escaped by clinging to trees, others by taking refuge in attics. At Camp Mystic, families were allowed to return Sunday to retrieve belongings. A man walked the riverbank searching beneath tree branches and rocks, while a teenage girl sobbed as her family drove away with a blue footlocker.
Heavy equipment operators continued to clear massive tree trunks and debris from the river. Meanwhile, volunteers and families of the missing joined the search effort despite requests from authorities to stay away.
President Trump was also asked whether he would rehire any of the federal meteorologists terminated earlier this year amid budget cuts. "I would think not," Trump said. "This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it."
Pope Leo XIV offered prayers during his Sunday blessing in Rome. "We pray for them," the pontiff said in English, addressing "the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp."
Local officials say they had proposed a robust flood warning system, but the public balked at the cost. At a tense news briefing Sunday, officials walked out as reporters pressed about evacuation delays.
The National Weather Service had issued alerts Thursday afternoon and a flash flood emergency early Friday, but residents say they lacked timely actionable warnings.
The cleanup is expected to take months. Many homes were torn from their foundations, and entire campgrounds erased.
