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At least 25 people are dead and several others remain unaccounted for after flooding in the Texas Hill Country early Friday, the start of a busy Fourth of July weekend.
Video captured by KSAT cameras, residents and campers showed a swollen Guadalupe River carrying debris, cars and even houses and cabins downstream, as the area received more than 10 inches of rain.
Radar estimates show that more rural places may have received up to 13 inches of rain, according to KSAT meteorologists.
The flooding event has drawn comparisons to the July 1987 flood on the Guadalupe River in Comfort, which, to date, resulted in one of the Hill Country’s worst tragedies.
As of 10 p.m. Friday, this is what we know about the Fourth of July flood on the Guadalupe River.
Number of fatalities
Twenty-four people were killed in Kerr County and another person died in Kendall County, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said during a joint Friday night news conference with Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders.
Watch the full Friday evening news conference below.
Leitha said they are still notifying next-of-kin of the victims, so they won’t release identities at the moment.
“This is a time when we as a state, we as a community, need God more than ever,” Abbott said.
The governor said he had a meeting with authorities at the state and local levels. He said there’s an “extraordinary” level of collaboration to address everybody’s concerns as quickly as possible.
At the state level, Abbott said Texas Task Force No. 1 and Texas Task Force No. 2 have been deployed for rescue missions.
Abbott said the rescue missions will continue into the “darkness of the night and will be taking place when the sun rises in the morning (on Saturday).”
Additionally, the Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Game Wardens, and the Texas Division of Emergency Management are assisting in search efforts.
Also in the news conference, Abbott signed a disaster declaration for the following counties: Bandera, Coke, Comal, Concho, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Reeves, San Saba and Tom Green.
“My job is to tell people thank you. People from across the state have come to help. City, county, state, all working together, all working for the same goal,” Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. said on Friday night.
Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety said more than 100 troopers were deployed on Friday morning to assist with rescue efforts. Additional teams are expected to arrive on Friday night and Saturday morning to continue operations.
Martin described the situation as a “mass casualty event.”
“We will not stop until every last person is accounted for,” Martin said.
General Thomas Suelzer of the Texas National Guard described aerial rescue operations.
“Today, we activated five helicopters with hoists to do rescue operations,” Suelzer said on Friday night. “They were paired with rescue swimmers from Texas Task Force No. 1. These crews train year-round just for this type of situation.”
“Additionally, we have three extra helicopters on the way to support the community,” said Suelzer.
As of Friday night, Suelzer said, rescue teams had evacuated or rescued 237 people, with 167 of those evacuations conducted by helicopter.
The coordinated efforts of state and local agencies continue as officials work tirelessly to bring relief and support to those affected by the disaster.
Kerr County’s Friday afternoon update
Kerr County officials held a news conference on Friday afternoon.
At the afternoon news conference, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at least 13 people were killed as a result of the storms.
“We’re working really hard. This is probably going to be a couple-of-day process,” Leitha said. “We don’t know when it’s going to stop raining. Hopefully, not much more.”
An unknown number of people remained unaccounted for, the sheriff said.
Leitha also asked Kerr County residents to “shelter in place.”
Watch the full Friday morning press conference below.
Herring also spoke to reporters during the Friday afternoon update.
“I want the public to know that we are doing everything we can to rescue those who are in peril and to find those who are missing,” Herring said.
“We have what we know, we have what we don’t know and we have what we don’t know we don’t know,” Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said.
Rice said the city is not yet in recovery mode. Crews are still out executing rescues.
On Friday morning, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly told reporters that he would not provide further details on those killed. Multiple children’s camps are in the area, and some kids are missing, Kelly said.
Kelly said they’re in the process of identifying the victims.
When asked how many rescues were conducted Friday, Kelly said “dozens.”
Campers reported missing
KSAT reported Friday morning that campers at the girls-only Camp Mystic in Kerr County had to be evacuated overnight.
In a separate Friday afternoon news conference, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said out of 750 girls, 23 are still unaccounted for.
An email from Camp Mystic to parents, which was obtained by KSAT, states that parents of campers who have not been accounted for have been notified.
The email states that campers at Cypress Lake and Senior Hill have been accounted for.
“If your daughter is not accounted for you have been notified,” the email states. “If you have not been personally contacted, then your daughter is accounted for.”
The highway was washed away, the email states.
Kelly said he didn’t have information on specific camps. Parents with questions should contact their camp directly, he said.
“We have a lot of camps,” Kelly said. ”What I do know is that everybody is doing their very best and trying to identify as much as we can."
County judge: Warning system not in place
Kelly said Kerr County does not have a warning system on the river.
When pressed by a reporter on why evacuations didn’t take place Thursday evening, Kelly said, “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, and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what’s happened here, none whatsoever.”
The flash flood watch was issued for Kerr County at 1:45 p.m. Thursday. The first flood warning was issued at 1 a.m. Friday.
In a Friday news conference, Patrick said Jay Hall, an assistant chief with the Texas Department of Emergency Management, “personally contacted the judges and the mayors in that area and notified them all of potential flooding.”
“It is up to the local counties and mayors under the law to evacuate if they feel a need, but that information was passed along,” he added.
WATCH: KSAT’s Sarah Spivey explains the Guadalupe River’s crest over Friday and Saturday
10+ inches of rain
Between 10 and 12 inches of rain fell in the Kerr County area overnight, resulting in major flooding along the Guadalupe River. Click here for the latest forecast.
Rain gauges have recorded over 10 inches of rain in Ingram, but radar estimates suggest up to 13 inches in more rural areas.
Local authorities are working with other county and state agencies to respond to rescues.
“The entire county is an extremely active scene,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.
Residents in the area are urged to shelter in place and not travel. People living near creeks, streams and the Guadalupe River should move to higher ground.
KCSO spokesperson Clint Morris told KSAT it is “an extremely active scene, countywide.”
“This may be a once-in-a-lifetime flood” for the county, he said, adding that they’ve responded to multiple calls for high-water rescues. People should avoid traveling west of Ingram near the Guadalupe River.
Rescues underway
During a news conference on Friday, Patrick, who was the acting governor, told reporters that Texas deployed 14 helicopters, 12 drones, nine rescue teams and swimmers to rescue people.
There are at least 400 rescue personnel in the area, he said.
“We’re praying for all of those missing to be found alive. We’re doing everything we can to get in there,” he said.
Comparisons to the 1987 flood
On the night of July 16, 1987, just outside Comfort, the kids at Pot O’ Gold Christian Camp were settling in for their final night of the retreat, while 30 miles up the Guadalupe River, at the other end of Kerr County, heavy rainfall would turn what had been a sleepy river into a wall of water.
While trying to evacuate the camp, a bus carrying 43 campers never made it across. Sadly, 10 of those on the bus drowned.
In Friday’s news conference, Kelly said the Friday flood “far surpasses the ‘87 flood."
Gov. Greg Abbott issues statement
Abbott issued the following statement on Friday in response to the deadly flooding.
“Texas is providing all necessary resources to Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt and the entire Texas Hill Country dealing with these devastating floods,” Abbott said in an email. “The State of Texas today has mobilized 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.”
His office said the following state emergency response resources are available to support the local flood response:
- Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1 and Texas A&M Task Force 3): Swiftwater Rescue Boat Squads to assist with flood rescues
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Game Wardens, rescue boat teams, and helicopters with hoist capability to assist with flood rescues
- Texas Department of Public Safety: Helicopters with hoist capabilities, Texas Highway Patrol Troopers, and the Tactical Marine Unit
- Texas National Guard: High profile vehicles to aid stranded motorists, Blackhawk helicopters with hoist capability to assist with flood rescues
- Texas Department of Transportation: Personnel monitoring road conditions
- Texas A&M Forest Service: Saw Crews to assist with clearing of roadways
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service: Disaster Assessment and Recovery Agents as well as County Extension Agents to support agricultural and livestock needs
- Public Utility Commission of Texas: Power outage monitoring and coordination with utility providers
- Railroad Commission of Texas: Monitoring of the state’s natural gas supply and communication with the oil and gas industry
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: Air/water/wastewater monitoring
- Texas Department of State Health Services (Texas Emergency Medical Task Force): Severe Weather Support Packages consisting of medics, ambulances, and all-terrain vehicles
The San Antonio Fire Department and Bexar County Emergency Services Districts have also deployed personnel and equipment to help with the response.