KERRVILLE, Texas—A wall of water poured down a river in the Texas Hill Country during a strong storm that killed at least 24 people. Crews searched through the darkness early Saturday for two dozen youngsters from a girls camp and many others who are still missing. The death toll would undoubtedly increase.
Homes and cars were washed away by the Guadalupe River’s catastrophic, swift-moving floods, which climbed 26 feet (8 meters) in just forty-five minutes before daybreak on Friday. Flash flood warnings and flood watches were still in force for portions of central Texas, and additional intense rains were predicted for Saturday, so the threat was far from finished.
Helicopters and drones were utilized by searchers to locate victims and rescue stranded individuals. It was unknown how many people were missing overall, but according to one sheriff, roughly 24 of them were females who had been enrolled in Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp by the river.
Families and parents in a panic shared pictures of their missing loved ones along with information requests.
According to 13-year-old Elinor Lester, one of the hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic, the camp was totally devastated. After landing, a chopper began removing passengers. It was quite frightening.
According to her, rescuers knotted a rope for the girls to grab as they crossed a bridge with floodwaters whirling around their legs after a fierce storm woke up her cabin just after midnight on Friday.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha announced 24 confirmed deaths at a news conference late Friday. Approximately 240 individuals were rescued, according to authorities.
Many locals, campers, and officials were taken aback by the flooding that occurred in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July vacation. Although they defended their response and severe weather preparations, officials claimed they had not anticipated such a heavy downpour, which was effectively the equivalent of months’ worth of rain for the region.
According to Nim Kidd, the head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, one National Weather Service forecast this week only called for three to six inches (76 to 152 millimeters) of rain.
He claimed that it was unable to forecast the volume of rain that we experienced.
Drones and helicopters are utilized in the desperate hunt for missing
According to Bob Fogarty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office, one river gauge close to Camp Mystic recorded a rise of 22 feet (6.7 meters) in around two hours. After recording a level of 29 and a half feet (9 meters), the gauge malfunctioned.
“You won’t realize how bad it is until it’s on top of you because the water is moving so quickly,” Fogarty added.
Families shared photos of their loved ones and asked for assistance in locating them on the Kerr County sheriff’s office Facebook page.
According to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, at least 400 personnel were on the ground assisting with the response. Some people were rescued from trees using rescue squads, drones, and helicopters.
The pitch-black wall of doom
Erin Burgess woke up in the middle of the night on Friday to the sound of thunder and rain in Ingram. She claimed that only twenty minutes later, water was rushing into her house across the river. She recounted a torturous hour spent hanging to a tree while she waited for the water to subside sufficiently to climb the hill to a neighbor’s house.
While my boyfriend and my dog drifted away, my son and I floated to a tree and grabbed onto it. We found them, she replied, but he was lost for a while.
Fortunately, her 19-year-old son is more over six feet tall, Burgess added. Holding on to him was the only thing that kept me alive.
Kerrville resident Matthew Stone, 44, claimed that despite police knocking on doors, he had not gotten any notice on his phone.
There was no emergency alert. Nothing was present,” Stone stated. Next, “a wall of death that is completely dark.”
I was terrified.
Families wept and applauded as loved ones disembarked from cars carrying evacuees at a reunification site set up in Ingram. An elderly woman who was unable to descend a ladder was lifted by two soldiers. A woman behind her was holding a little white dog.
Later, a girl was crying in her mother’s arms while standing in a puddle wearing a white Camp Mystic T-shirt and white socks.
According to 54-year-old Barry Adelman, flooding forced everyone in his three-story home—including his 9-year-old grandson and 94-year-old grandmother—into the attic. Before it eventually subsided, the water began to seep through the attic floor.
He remarked, “I was horrified.” I was terrified on the inside, but I had to face my grandson and reassure him that everything would be alright.
Nobody anticipated this type of deluge.
Rain was predicted, and a flood watch for at least 30,000 people was raised to a warning for the night.
The lieutenant governor pointed out that a wide region was at risk of flooding and intense rain.
Patrick stated, “Everything was done to warn them that there could be heavy rain, and we’re not exactly sure where it’s going to land.” “Obviously, the storm began to intensify as it grew darker yesterday night and we into the early morning hours.
When asked how Kerr County residents were informed so they could evacuate, the county’s top elected official, Judge Rob Kelly, responded, “We don’t have a warning system.”
Kelly responded to reporters’ questions about why additional safety measures weren’t implemented by saying, “Don’t worry, nobody knew this kind of flood was coming.”
A well-known tourist destination that frequently floods
According to Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was gathering money to support NGOs assisting with the tragedy, the region is referred to as “flash flood alley” due to the hills’ thin soil layer.
According to Dickson, water does not seep into the ground when it rains. Down the hill it rushes.
An important component of the Hill Country economy is the river tourist sector. According to Dickson, children from all over the nation attend renowned summer camps that have been around for a century.
According to Dickson, it’s a relatively peaceful river with stunningly brilliant blue water that has drawn tourists for many years.
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From Des Moines, Iowa, Fingerhut provided a report. Contributions were also made by Associated Press writers Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut; John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; and Adrian Sanz in Memphis, Tennessee.
