Death toll rises to 24 in Texas floods, with up to 25 girls missing from summer camp

At least 24 people have died, and up to 25 girls from a children’s summer camp are missing after thunderstorms and torrential rain hit rural Texas on Friday.

Intense downpours triggered flash flooding and caused the Guadalupe River in south-central Texas to rise by a reported eight metres in less than an hour, engulfing Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls.

Rescuers bring people to a reunification centre in Ingram, Texas.Credit: AP

The US National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, about 105 kilometres north-west of San Antonio, after up to 30 centimetres of rain fell.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said search-and-rescue operations were continuing and that “limitless” resources would be devoted to the rescue effort.

Search teams were flying 14 helicopters and a dozen drones over the area, in addition to hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground conducting rescues from trees and swift-flowing water, officials said. Federal and US Coast Guard personnel were also assisting local authorities.

At a news conference on Saturday AEST, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 people were confirmed to have died in the floods. Authorities said 237 people had been rescued so far, including 167 by helicopter.

Officials said they were still searching for up to 25 missing girls from Camp Mystic, adding that they did not yet know how many people in total were unaccounted for from across the region.

The Guadalupe River in central Texas reportedly rose by eight metres in 45 minutes after intense downpours.Credit: AP

Parents and families turned to social media to post desperate pleas for information about loved ones caught in the flood zone amid warnings of more heavy rain to come over the next 24 hours.

There were reportedly some 700 children staying at Camp Mystic when it was inundated by the Guadalupe River in the early hours of Friday, US central time.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” said 13-year-old Elinor Lester, who was staying at the site. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”

Lester said a raging storm woke up her cabin about 1.30am, and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as the children in her cabin walked across a bridge with floodwaters whipping around their calves and knees.

Camp Mystic said in an email to parents that if they had not been contacted directly, their child was accounted for.

A helicopter flies over the flooded Guadalupe River.Credit: AP

Referring to the message at a news conference, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said: “That does not mean [the missing children] have been lost. They could be out of communication.”

In a statement from the camp read by Patrick, campsite staff said they had experienced “catastrophic levels of flooding” and that they have “no power, water or Wi-Fi”.

Patrick said the Guadalupe River had risen about eight metres in 45 minutes, and warned of the further risk of flooding in west and central Texas.

The New York Times reported parents sharing photos of some of the missing girls on social media and text, and exchanging hopeful reports of dramatic rescues: girls clinging to trees, or floating downriver to a boys’ camp eight kilometres away.

But dozens of families shared in local Facebook groups that they received devastating phone calls from safety officials informing them that their daughters had not yet been located among the washed-away camp cabins and fallen trees.

Dalton Rice, city manager for the local town of Kerrville, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing any evacuation orders.

Onlookers survey damage along the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area.Credit: AP

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One at the end of a day of public events for the July 4 holiday, President Donald Trump described the floods as “shocking” and “terrible”.

“We’ll take care of them”, he said when asked about federal aid for the disaster.

On its website, Camp Mystic describes itself as “on the banks of the beautiful Guadalupe River” and aiming “to provide young girls with a wholesome Christian atmosphere in which they can develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem”.

The camp has been running for almost 100 years and attracts families from Texas and beyond, with the youngest campers entering in year 3. Its Instagram account features videos of large groups of girls taking part in dance performances this summer.

The area is home to several other summer camps, including Camp La Junta for boys, about 8 kilometres from Camp Mystic. The boys’ camp told families that all of its campers were safe and fed, but they could not be evacuated until about 7pm US Central Time on Friday (Saturday AEST).

Water rises from severe flooding along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas on Friday.Credit: AP

“Everybody is doing everything in their power to get these kids out,” Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top elected local official, told a news briefing. He said scattered residential areas, recreational vehicle parks and campsites were the hardest hit.

At an elementary school in the nearby town of Ingram, which was being used as a reunification centre, more than a hundred people milled around a courtyard, hoping to see their loved ones step out of buses dropping off those who had been evacuated.

One young girl wearing a Camp Mystic T-shirt stood in a puddle in her white socks, sobbing in her mother’s arms as she rubbed her hands together and watched the buses arrive.

Camp Mystic sits on a strip known as “flash flood alley”, said Austin Dickson, chief executive of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, a charity that is collecting donations to help with the disaster response.

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

Reuters, AP

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