Desperate search for missing girls from summer camp after Texas floods kill at least 24

KERRVILLE, Texas – At slightest 24 radical were killed and a frantic hunt continued overnight for galore others missing successful the Texas Hill Country, including much than 20 from a girls camp, aft a tempest unleashed astir a ft of rainfall and sent floodwaters spilling retired of the Guadalupe River.

The destructive unit of the fast-rising waters conscionable earlier dawn Friday washed retired homes and swept distant vehicles. There were hundreds of rescues astir Kerr County, including astatine slightest 167 by helicopter, authorities said. The full fig of missing was not known but the sheriff said betwixt 23 and 25 of them were girls who had been attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summertime campy on the river.

On societal media, parents and families posted hopeless pleas for accusation astir loved ones caught successful the flood zone.

“The campy was wholly destroyed,” said Elinor Lester, 13, 1 of hundreds of campers astatine Camp Mystic. “A chopper landed and started taking radical away. It was truly scary.”

She said a raging tempest woke up her compartment astir 1:30 a.m. Friday, and erstwhile rescuers arrived, they tied a enactment for the girls to clasp arsenic the children successful her compartment walked crossed span with floodwaters whipping astir the calves and knees.

The flooding successful the mediate of the nighttime connected the Fourth of July vacation caught galore residents, campers and officials by surprise. Officials defended their preparations for terrible upwind and their effect but said they had not expected specified an aggravated downpour that was, successful effect, the equivalent of months' worthy of rainfall for the area.

One National Weather Service forecast this week had called for lone betwixt 3 and six inches (76 to 152 millimeters) of rain, said Nim Kidd, the main of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

“It did not foretell the magnitude of rainfall that we saw,” helium said.

At a quality league precocious Friday Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 radical had been confirmed killed. Authorities said 237 radical had been recued truthful far.

Pleading for accusation aft flash flood

A stream gauge astatine Hunt recorded a 22 ft emergence (6.7 meters) successful astir 2 hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed aft signaling a level of 29 and a fractional feet (9 meters).

“The water’s moving truthful fast, you’re not going to admit however atrocious it is until it’s connected apical of you,” Fogarty said.

On the Kerr County sheriff's bureau Facebook page, radical posted pictures of loved ones and begged for assistance uncovering them.

At slightest 400 radical were connected the crushed helping successful the response, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used, with immoderate radical being rescued from trees.

‘Pitch achromatic partition of death’

In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rainfall astatine 3:30 a.m. Just 20 minutes later, h2o was pouring into her location straight crossed from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hr clinging to a histrion and waiting for the h2o to recede capable truthful they could locomotion up the elevation to a neighbor's home.

“My lad and I floated to a histrion wherever we hung onto it, and my fellow and my canine floated away. He was mislaid for a while, but we recovered them,” she said.

Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: “Thankfully he’s implicit 6 feet tall. That’s the lone happening that saved me, was hanging connected to him.”

Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said constabulary came knocking connected doors astatine 5:30 a.m. but that helium had received nary informing connected his phone.

“We got nary exigency alert. There was nothing," Stone said. Then "a transportation achromatic partition of death.”

‘I was frightened to death’

At a reunification halfway acceptable up successful Ingram, families cried and cheered arsenic loved ones got disconnected vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older pistillate who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a pistillate successful a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a tiny achromatic dog.

Later, a miss successful a achromatic “Camp Mystic” T-shirt and achromatic socks stood successful a puddle, sobbing successful her mother’s arms.

Barry Adelman, 54, said h2o pushed everyone successful his three-story location into the attic, including his 94-year-old grandma and 9-year-old grandson. The h2o started coming done the attic level earlier yet receding.

“I was horrified,” helium said. “I was having to look astatine my grandson successful the look and archer him everything was going to beryllium OK, but wrong I was frightened to death.”

‘No 1 knew this benignant of flood was coming’

The forecast had called for rain, with a flood ticker upgraded to a informing overnight for astatine slightest 30,000 people. But totals successful immoderate places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said.

Patrick noted that the imaginable for dense rainfall and flooding covered a ample area.

“Everything was done to springiness them a heads up that you could person dense rain, and we’re not precisely definite wherever it’s going to land," Patrick said. "Obviously arsenic it got acheronian past night, we got into the wee greeting of the hours, that’s erstwhile the tempest started to zero in.”

Asked astir however radical were notified successful Kerr County truthful that they could get to safety, Judge Rob Kelly, the county's main elected official, said: “We bash not person a informing system.”

When reporters pushed connected wherefore much precautions weren't taken, Kelly said: “Rest assured, nary 1 knew this benignant of flood was coming.”

Popular tourism country prone to flooding

The country is known arsenic “flash flood alley” due to the fact that of the hills’ bladed furniture of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to assistance nonprofits responding to the disaster.

“When it rains, h2o doesn’t soak into the soil,” Dickson said. “It rushes down the hill.”

River tourism manufacture is simply a cardinal portion of the Hill Country economy. Well-known, century-old summertime camps bring successful kids from each implicit the country, Dickson said.

“It’s mostly a precise tranquil stream with truly beauteous wide bluish h2o that radical person been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.

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Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press reporters Adrian Sanz successful Memphis, Tennessee, Hannah Schoenbaum successful Salt Lake City, John O'Connor successful Springfield, Illinois, and Susan Haigh successful Norwich, Connecticut, besides contributed.

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