Death toll in catastrophic Texas flooding rises to 50, including 15 children
Fifteen children and 28 adults have died in the devastating Texas flash flooding, officials have confirmed in a grim Saturday night update.
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Fifteen children and 28 adults have died in the devastating Texas flash flooding, officials said in a Saturday night update as the death toll rose to at least 50.
At least four of the dead — Renee Smajstrla, 8, Sarah Marsh, 8, Janie Hunt, 9, and Lila Bonner, 9 — were attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer retreat for girls where 23 other campers were still unaccounted for, as search-and-rescues teams continued to hunt for missing kids into Saturday night.
Parents now face an agonising wait for more news on their children.
“We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County,” Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a press conference.
“Among these who are deceased we have 28 adults and 15 children.”
Officials said 12 adults and five children have not yet been identified.
At least four people have also died in Travis County and three in Burnet County, authorities there said.
The flooding occurred across much of central Texas, most devastatingly at Camp Mystic, which is located next to the Guadalupe River.
Texas officials refused to confirm the identities of the dead or missing, saying they were protecting the privacy of the grieving families, but family members took to social media to post the heartbreaking news.
“Thank you to all our friends and family for all the prayers and outreach. Renee has been found and while not the outcome we prayed for, the social media outreach likely assisted the first responders in helping to identify her so quickly,” Renee’s uncle wrote on Facebook along with a picture of the young girl beaming.
“We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday. She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic. Please continue to pray for the other families in Kerrville.”
Janie was also discovered dead, according to Corpus Christi Crónica.
The nine-year-old’s mother had told CNN Friday that she had not heard anything about her daughter’s whereabouts after the flood hit the camp. “We are just praying,” Janie’s mother had said.
The camp, which hosts up to 750 girls aged seven to 17, was overwhelmed by the floodwaters, which at one point saw the river swell by eight metres in just 45 minutes.
“The camp was completely destroyed,” Elinor Lester, 13, one of the evacuated campers, told The Associated Press.
“A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
The family of Mystic’s director, Dick Eastland, confirmed he heroically died while trying to save the young girls from the storm.
Mr Eastland raced to one of the camp’s 23 cabins when the floodwater swept it away early Friday morning, Channel2Now reported. He had been involved with the private all-girls Christian camp since purchasing it in 1974 with his wife Tweety. His nephew confirmed his death via Facebook.
Former camper Paige Sumner said Mr Eastland and “was the father figure to all of us while we were away from home at Camp Mystic for six weeks”.
“He was the father of four amazing boys, but he had hundreds of girls each term who looked up to him like a dad,” she wrote. “I would never have taken a fishing class if it wasn’t taught by my new friend Dick.”
Harrowing photographs showed the damage wrought by the floodwaters, which reached the middle of the windows of the cabins where the girls slept, and higher than the bunk beds.
Entire walls were ripped off the buildings, trees uprooted and the girls’ belongings tossed into shrubbery.
Camp Mystic reportedly told parents that if they had not been contacted directly it meant that their child was accounted for.
Ellen Toranzo told Fox News Digital that her daughter, Greta Toranzo, is one of the campers who went missing during the flood. Carrie Hanna also confirmed to Fox News Digital that her daughter, Hadley, is unaccounted for.
Both girls remain missing as of Saturday afternoon.
Two other young girls, Blair, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, have been confirmed dead after they went missing during the flood. Neither girl was attending Camp Mystic.
Their father, RJ Harber, told CNN that his parents, Charlene and Mike Harber, were also still missing but he believed the couple was deceased.
“[Blair] was a gifted student and had a generous kind heart,” Mr Harber told CNN “[Brooke] was like a light in any room, people gravitated to her and she made them laugh and enjoy the moment.”
Jane Ragsdale, a director and co-owner of a separate girls camp along the Guadalupe River called Heart O’ the Hills, also died.
That camp was not in session at the time of the flooding and no children were staying there.
“We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened by Jane’s death,” the camp wrote on its website. “She embodied the spirit of Heart O’ the Hills and was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop with the girls entrusted to us each summer.”
The bodies of both adults and children have been retrieved by emergency responders, and a couple hundred people have been evacuated.
It is not clear if any of the other campers had been found dead, but local reports indicate that some of the girls were rescued and were transported to family reunification centers.
“Within 45 minutes, the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet and it was a destructive flood, taking property and sadly lives,” Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, filling in for the holidaying Governor Greg Abbott, said during a news conference.
The area has not seen this level of flooding since 1987. A flood alert went out at 4am when most people were sleeping.
He said the area had copped about 12 inches (300 millimetres) of rain per hour.
There are more than 700 emergency responders on the ground, and in the air, searching for survivors and those in need of aid. They’re being helped by 14 helicopters and 12 drones.
“That does not mean they’ve been lost,” Mr Patrick said of the missing girls, saying everyone was “praying for them to be found alive”.
“They could be in a tree, they could be out of communication.”
Camp Mystic says it has informed the parents of all the missing children.
Officials have warned the death toll may rise even further.
“It’s going to be a massive casualty event,” said Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety Freeman Martin.
During the media conference, Mr Patrick made a promise to the parents of the missing children from Camp Mystic.
“If they are alive and safe, we will find them and bring them home to you,” he said.
“We will do everything humanly possible 24/7, looking in every tree turning over every rock.”
The National Weather Service first issued a flash flood watch at 1.18pm on Thursday estimating up to seven inches of rising water.
At 1.14am, a “life threatening” flash flood warning was issued for about 30,000 people, the Texas Tribune reported.
Grilled about the suddenness of the flooding overnight and why more precautions weren’t taken, Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in Kerr County, told reporters “we do not have a warning system” and that “we didn’t know this flood was coming”.
“Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming,” he said. “We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”
The camp is currently without power or internet. A statement from its administrators, read out by the Lieutenant-Governor, stressed that the level of flooding was “catastrophic”.
“The highway has washed away, so we are struggling to get more help,” the camp said.
The communications problems are being exacerbated by the camp’s rule of imposing a ban on technology for the children staying there.
“Technology is actually not allowed there,” said NewsNation reporter Tracy Walder, whose daughter is friends with some of the missing kids.
“That’s why communication and information is kind of a bit difficult to come by.”
Mr Abbott, in a written statement, said Texas was “providing all necessary resources to Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt and the entire Texas Hill Country dealing with these devastating floods”.
“The state of Texas today has mobilised additional resources in addition to the resources sent in preparation for the storms. I urge Texans to heed guidance from state and local officials and monitor local forecasts to avoid driving into flooded areas.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, asked his followers on social media to “pray right now” for all involved, “especially Camp Mystic”.
“It’s terrible, the floods,” US President Donald Trump told reporters Friday night. “It’s shocking.”
Asked if Texas would receive federal aid, he said: “Oh yeah, sure, we’ll take care of it. We’re working with the governor.”
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Mr Trump said the federal government was working with state and local officials in response to the “tragic flooding”.
“Our Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, will be there shortly,” he wrote.
“Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!”
Meanwhile, officials are warning residents of the area to continue being vigilant.
“The rain has let up, but we know there’s another wave coming,” Mr Martin said, adding that more rain would be hitting areas around the cities San Antonio and Austin.
Forecasters issued a flood warning for one county, urging those living near the Guadalupe River to “move to higher ground”.
Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in the region.
– with AFP, NY Post and Fox News
Originally published as Death toll in catastrophic Texas flooding rises to 50, including 15 children
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