Search for girls missing from Texas camp after flash flooding as 27 people confirmed dead

LAST UPDATE | 36 mins ago

RESCUERS WERE SEARCHING for children from a riverside girls’ summer camp and many others who were still missing after a wall of water rushed down a river in the Texas Hill Country during a powerful storm that killed at least 27 people, officials said.

Among the dead were nine children.

The destructive fast-moving waters along the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes before dawn Friday, washing away homes and vehicles.

The danger was not over as more heavy rains were expected today and flash flood warnings and watches remained in effect for parts of central Texas.

A month’s worth of heavy rain fell on the US state in a matter of hours on Friday, leaving search teams to conduct boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving water.

At least 10 inches (25 centimetres) of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe river and leading to desperate pleas for information about the missing.

“Some [fatalities] are adults, some are children,” Lieutenant governor Dan Patrick said during a news conference.

“Again, we don’t know where those bodies came from.”

Some 27 people were missing from Camp Mystic, Dalton Rice, city manager, said at a press conference on Saturday.

An unknown number of people at other locations were still unaccounted for.

“People need to know today will be a hard day,” said Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr.

Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue stranded people. The total number of missing was not known but one sheriff said about 24 of them were girls who had been attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.

Frantic parents and families posted photos of missing loved ones and pleas for information.

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“The camp was completely destroyed,” said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic.

“A helicopter landed and started taking people away.

“It was really scary.”

A raging storm woke up her cabin just after midnight Friday, and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as they walked across a bridge with floodwaters whipping around their legs, she said.

Texas governor Greg Abbott said the state was providing resources to Hill Country communities dealing with the flooding, including in Kerrville, Ingram and Hunt.

The Texas Hill Country, a scenic and rocky gateway to booming vineyards and vacation rentals, begins west of the state capital and is a popular outdoor summer getaway.

People seeking family whereabouts on social media

Parts of the region are prone to flash flooding.

Dozens of people posted on Facebook asking for any information on their children, nieces and nephews attending one of the many camps in the area, or family members that went camping during the holiday weekend.

Ingram Fire Department posted a photo of a statement from Camp Mystic, saying the private Christian summer camp for girls experienced “catastrophic level floods”.

Parents with a daughter not accounted for were directly contacted, the camp said.

Another camp on the river located east of Hunt, Camp Waldemar, said in an Instagram post that “we are all safe and sound”.

“I urge Texans to heed guidance from state and local officials and monitor local forecasts to avoid driving into flooded areas,” Abbott said in a statement.

The Guadalupe’s river gauge at the unincorporated community of Hunt, where the river forks, recorded a 22 foot rise (6.7 metres) in just about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office.

Fogarty said the gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet (nine metres).

“We think the river’s higher than that,” Fogarty said. “The gauge is completely underwater.

“This is the kind of thing that will catch you unaware. The water’s moving so fast, you’re not going to recognise how bad it is until it’s on top of you.”