The Latest on Sunday: Deaths rise to 59 in historic Kerr County flash floods, as other deaths reported elsewhere
KERR COUNTY — Search-and-rescue teams fanned out along the Guadalupe River on Saturday, a day after historic floodwaters swept through small Central Texas towns and campsites, leaving at least 43 people dead and an unknown number unaccounted for.
In the wake of the early morning floods on the Fourth of July, girls from Camp Mystic — a Christian summer camp in Hunt that draws campers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area — remained missing, with 27 unaccounted for as the rescue effort stretched into its second day.
The sweeping search involving local, state and federal agencies mobilized more than a dozen helicopters and hundreds of emergency workers and volunteers.
“We’re not going to stop today or tomorrow; we will stop when the job is completed,” Gov. Greg Abbott said during a news conference Saturday afternoon. “This is a 24/7 operation, day and night, because we know that we are looking for Texans and Americans, and we put them as our top priority.”
Saturday evening, Abbott said on X he visited Camp Mystic and found it and the river running along it “horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I’ve ever seen in any natural disaster.”
“The height the rushing water reached to the top of cabins was shocking,” he wrote. “We won’t stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins.”
Local officials in Kerr County, roughly 60 miles northwest of San Antonio, said Saturday evening the death toll was 15 children and 28 adults, while more than 800 people had been rescued. Those figures were subject to change, they said.
More than 2,500 customers were without power in Kerr County Saturday morning, according to the Kerrville Public Utility Bureau — a number that dropped to under 700 by shortly after 5 p.m.
Search and rescue efforts
As search and recovery efforts continued Saturday, weather forecasts indicated there would be more rainfall. The National Weather Service issued a new flood watch Saturday morning, with between 2 and 10 inches of additional rain possible near the flood watch area.
On Friday, Texas had deployed more than 1,000 state responders and over 800 vehicles and equipment assets, Abbott said in a news release. The governor also said he signed a disaster declaration for 15 counties. On Saturday, he expanded the declaration to include Bexar, Burnet, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Travis and Williamson counties.
In addition, Dallas Fire-Rescue deployed a medical support team and other water rescue resources to the Hill Country. The Fort Worth Fire Department sent 17 firefighters to the region, and Arlington sent four firefighters.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was traveling to Texas and his administration was working with officials on the ground.
“Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy,” Trump said in a statement on social media.
In a Saturday news conference, Noem said Trump is committed to using all federal resources to help unify families.
‘It was really scary’
As the sun rose Saturday morning, the Guadalupe River, winding through southern Kerrville, fell to just 3 feet — nearly 20 feet below its crest the day before, according to NOAA water level forecasts. Low-lying roads crossing the river were blocked by patrol vehicles. Downtown businesses used sidewalk signs to display emergency response lines.
Early Friday, heavy rains pushed the Guadalupe River at Hunt to its second-highest height on record, according to the National Weather Service. By 9 p.m., local officials said there had been at least 24 fatalities — more than double the death toll of a 1987 flood there that claimed the lives of 10 teenagers from North Texas.
“The camp was completely destroyed,” Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic, told The Associated Press. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
A raging storm woke up her cabin just after midnight Friday, and when rescuers arrived they tied a rope for the girls to hold as they walked across a bridge with floodwaters whipping around their legs, she said.
Late Friday night, the city of Kerrville established a reunification intake phone line for Camp Mystic parents.
Meanwhile, North Texas families held onto hope that they’d hear from their missing loved ones.
Jennifer Harber of Dallas spent most of Friday searching for information about her brother, who was vacationing in the Hill Country.
Harber told The Dallas Morning News her brother’s family had been at their vacation home in Hunt to celebrate the Fourth of July. As the flood hit, she said her brother, RJ Harber, and his wife, Annie, woke up at about 3 a.m. to high waters in the house.
RJ Harber broke open a window, escaped with his wife, and grabbed a kayak from his neighbor’s home, according to his sister. She said he then attempted to kayak about five houses down to rescue their parents — Charlene, 74, and Mike, 76 — and his daughters, Blair, 13, and Brooke, 11. But his kayak nearly capsized, forcing him to go back to his home, where he and his wife were stranded.
The couple subsequently evacuated to Kerrville and moved to Ingram Elementary.
On Saturday, they identified the bodies of their daughters, his sister told The News.
The family did not confirm if they had found the grandparents of the family.
A grim search
In neighboring Hunt, residents likened the aftermath to the path of a tornado. Cars, boats and wooden bed frames were lodged into trees, and branches were tangled in knots around downed power lines.
“We’ve got another body over here,” a search crew member yelled shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday from a patch of grass along State Highway 39.
“We’ll be right there,” a state trooper replied from the window of his patrol vehicle.
As response efforts continued, state and local officials asked residents to pray and maintain hope.
“Friday became a day of tragedies. Together, we mourn each victim and the loss their families now endure,” Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. said in a public statement Friday night.
“It’s important to remember Friday became a day of miracles, too. Rescues continue even as darkness falls today. The heroic efforts of men and women first responders have helped hundreds and will not stop as night approaches,” Herring added.
Questions about warnings and evacuations
The flooding in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July holiday caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. AccuWeather said the private forecasting company and the National Weather Service sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before the devastation.
“These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety,” AccuWeather said in a statement that called the Texas Hill County one of the most flash flood-prone areas of the U.S. because of its terrain and many water crossings.
Officials defended their actions Friday while saying they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months’ worth of rain for the area.
Staff writers Jamie Landers and Chase Rogers reported from Kerr County. Staff writers Alex Nguyen, Kathryn Muchnick and Bianca Rodriguez-Mora reported from Dallas. The Associated Press contributed to this report.