Texas floods…
 

…24 confirmed dead and more than 20 children missing from a girl’s summer camp…

Months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, leaving 24 people dead and many more unaccounted for Friday, including more than 20 girls attending a summer camp, as search teams conducted boat and helicopter rescues in fast-moving floodwaters.

Desperate pleas peppered social media as loved ones sought any information about people caught in the flood zone. At least 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.

At a news conference late Friday Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 people had been killed. Authorities said 237 people had been recued so far, including 167 by helicopter.

The missing children were attending Camp Mystic, a Christian camp along the Guadalupe River in the small town of Hunt. Elinor Lester, 13, said she and her cabin mates had to be helicoptered to safety.

A raging storm woke up her cabin around 1:30 a.m., and when rescuers arrived, Lester said they tied a rope for the girls to hold as the children in her cabin walked across bridge with floodwaters whipping around the calves and knees.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” she said. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”

The situation was still developing and officials said the death toll could change, with rescue operations ongoing for an unspecified total number of missing.

Authorities were still working to identify the dead.

Pleading for information after flash flood

A river gauge at Hunt recorded a 22 foot rise (6.7 meters) in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet (9 meters).

“The water’s moving so fast, you’re not going to recognize how bad it is until it’s on top of you,” Fogarty said.


…full article…

https://www.yahoo.com/news/24-dead-t...041505484.html

So sad and yet the climate change sceptics will carry on regardless

Terrible tragedy

If you live in the Guadalupe River Basin, you also live in one of the three most
dangerous regions in the U.S.A. for flash floods! Local residents and weather
experts refer to the Texas Hill Country as ‘Flash Flood Alley,’ because heavy
rainfall and runoff from creeks and streams can cause rapid rises and flooding
in a matter of hours.

The Guadalupe River experienced major floods in 1936, 1952, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1987, 1991, 1997 and 1998.

[24 confirmed dead and
more than 20 children missing from a girl’s summer camp…]

Really sad that Girls Summer Camp
never got a 4AM Alarm for this
Whoever is in charge is pathetic

hotspots get worse and more frequent and more places become susceprible, but you know all this already

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/07...1723479127.jpg

Debris from the flash flooding in Texas on Saturday


https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/07...1717106762.jpg
One Young Lady
saved by climbing a tree.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eath-toll.html

Reports 18 Adults
and 9 Children
found dead, so far


All Media

I don't know about the Hill Country in particular but in SE TX at least, we've had a lot of heavy rains of late and we had just gotten a break. If they had a lot of rain further up the watershed, rivers can take a much longer time to recede, so it's probably that they were nearing full because of all the storms across a period (including upstream) in what has been a very wet season so far. We've several weeks of heavy rain. But that is something that happens here, unfortunately. Flooding also occurs because cities tend to cover the ground up with concrete and build at grade and because we live on a floodplain, it doesn't bode well for drainage, so that can add to the watershed becoming overwhelmed. The Hill county isn't very developed compared to other parts of the state, though.

Total Deaths now 43


Including 15 children, sadly.

… and now at 50 I’m reading, Arista…it’s horrendous stuff and a huge manhunt for the 27 summer camp children still missing…

Yes, it was around 4AM
Too much rain


Terrible Tragedy

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/07...1773667122.jpg


[Two unidentified campers were also rescued
from the floods. Officials have stressed
they hope to rescue many of the missing
and say they're still hopeful of finding most
of those missing safe and well]

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/07...1763096386.jpg
[Wrecked father, Ty Badon, spoke with CNN on Saturday
explaining his desperation in the hunt for
his missing daughter and her friends who have not been
seen or heard from since the disastrous rush of water]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eath-toll.html

21 Children confirmed dead
38 Adults confirmed dead.

Live News update

11 children still not found

This is horrific, imagine what those families are going through.

…I watched this earlier when it was in real time and people were on the bridge filming it on their phones…it’s terrifying how quickly the bridge wasn’t there anymore and it was just deadly river rapids…it took only 20 minutes…so many people coping with that plus the search continuing for their children…

Horrific tragedy.
Devastating.

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/07...1818141461.jpg
[Texans are frustrated with the lack of an
efficient emergency response system to let
victims know a severe storm was underway]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...r-service.html

Ryan Hall warned everyone about this threat on Thursday. he has near 4 million subscribers

see 3.30 on



Also:

*A flash flood watch was issued for Kerr County at 12:41a CT (just after midnight Thursday night). The watch mentioned isolated rain amounts of 10 inches, and stated "Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks." This followed a flash flood watch that was issued Thursday afternoon.

*A flash flood warning was issued at 1:14a CT For Kerr County, which mentioned "life threatening flash flooding of creeks, streams, and rivers".

*A flash flood "emergency" was issued at 5:34a CT for Kerr County and the Guadalupe River.

*NWS Austin/San Antonio had five on staff during the event; normally two would be on duty. Extra staffing was planned before the event started.

*This type of flash flooding on the Guadalupe River is nothing new. Similar events happened in 1998, 1978, 1935, and 1921. This year's event was related to deep moisture from a tropical system (Barry) that originated in the East Pacific and made landfall near Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on June 29.

One takeaway is the importance of having a NOAA Weather Radio at every
home, business, and any place where there are large number of people
gathered (like a camp on a river). I would imagine cell service is very spotty
along the Guadalupe where the camps were located. NWR does not use cell
service and will wake you up. The alert is very loud, and can't be missed.