- At least 81 lives were lost, including 28 children at Camp Mystic, with dozens still missing amid Texas' deadliest flood since 1987. The Guadalupe River surged to 36 feet overnight, obliterating towns like Kerrville and Ingram.
- Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state disaster, deploying helicopters, drones and emergency teams. Helicopters rescued survivors (e.g., 13-year-old Elinor Lester), while the Coast Guard aided 223 rescues.
- Rising waters trapped children in cabins before structures were destroyed; 10 campers and one counselor remain missing. Abbott vowed to continue searching for "every girl."
- The river rose 26 feet in 45 minutes due to a "one-in-100-year rainfall" (15 inches vs. three to six inches forecast). Officials admitted no warning system was in place, delaying evacuations.
- Recovery could take years, with saturated soil worsening runoff. Federal aid was approved, but devastated communities like Ingram saw RVs and families swept away – echoing the 1987 disaster.
A catastrophic flash flood along the Guadalupe River in Texas has claimed at least 81 lives, with rescue teams scrambling to locate dozens still missing – including children from a Christian summer camp swept away in what authorities describe as the deadliest flood event since 1987.
The disaster unfolded overnight Friday, July 4, as torrential rains surged the river to nearly 36 feet. The deluge engulfed towns like Kerrville, Hunt and Ingram – where entire neighborhoods vanished beneath flood waters. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state disaster, mobilizing helicopters, drones and hundreds of emergency personnel in a desperate search for survivors.
Among the hardest-hit locations was Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer retreat in Kerr County, where rising waters trapped campers in their cabins before the structures were obliterated. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha confirmed Sunday, July 6, that at least 28 children are confirmed dead while 10 campers and one counselor remain missing,
"The height the rushing water reached to the top of cabins was shocking," Abbott said after touring the wreckage, vowing, "We won't stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins."
Dramatic rescues unfolded as helicopters plucked stranded survivors from rooftops. Elinor Lester, 13, was among those rescued. She described younger campers fleeing riverbank cabins as the flood swallowed the grounds.
"Nobody saw this coming"
The speed of the disaster stunned officials. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes, a surge Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick attributed to "a one-in-100-year rainfall event." National Weather Service forecasts had predicted three to six inches of rain, but some areas received nearly 11 inches overnight.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, whose own property was destroyed, admitted, "We had no warning system. Nobody saw this coming." He continued: "It's [going to] be a long time before we're ever going to be able to clean it up, much less rebuild it."
Theories about cloud seeding, fueled by an online map of rain-enhancement projects near Kerr County, were dismissed by meteorologists. Nevertheless, the speculation underscored the unprecedented nature of the storm.
Federal aid arrived after President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem emphasized the Coast Guard's role in 223 rescues, while local crews battled submerged roads and downed power lines.
Ingram residents like Lorena Gullen described watching RVs, some with families inside, swept downstream as the river devoured everything in its path. The tragedy's scale evokes memories of Texas' 1987 floods, when the Guadalupe last peaked at 36 feet.
Yet this disaster's toll on children has stirred national grief. At St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, mourners gathered for 11-year-old Brooke Harber and her 13-year-old sister Blair, who perished while visiting grandparents along the river.
Meanwhile, nonprofits like the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country warned recovery could take years. Austin Dickson, the foundation's president, remarked that the flooding left the soil very saturated; that fast "water doesn't soak into the soil, it rushes down the hill" – impeding recovery efforts. (Related: America's silent crisis: Major U.S. cities are sinking, threatening infrastructure and increasing flood risks.)
As night fell Sunday, search teams continued combing the riverbanks with floodlights. "It's impossible to describe the devastation," Abbott told reporters, standing near a wrecked campground where stuffed animals and flip-flops littered the mud.
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Watch this clip of the rapid rise in the Guadalupe River's water level, which subsequently caused the flooding in Texas thas killed 81.
This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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