KERRVILLE — Flooding that began before dawn Friday swept through a summer camp and homes in central Texas, the United States, killing at least 24 people and setting off frantic searches for missing children and others swept away.
Many of the dead and missing were girls from Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas. Desperate parents posted photographs of their children online, seeking any information, and others went to reunification centres to try to find missing loved ones.
Hundreds of emergency personnel were searching for stranded people. The Texas National Guard made 237 rescues and evacuations, said Maj Gen Thomas M Suelzer, commander of the guard, which used helicopters and rescue swimmers to reach people.
Gov Greg Abbott said rescue crews would work throughout the night. He also signed an emergency disaster declaration encompassing several counties in central Texas. That will expedite state funding for the areas that experienced significant damage.
Lt Gov Dan Patrick said Camp Mystic was contacting the parents of campers who remain unaccounted for. He said that parents with children who had not heard from camp officials should assume their children were safe. The camp has some 750 campers, he said.
The flooded Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Friday. (Photo: New York Times)
The flooding seemed to take many by surprise. Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in Kerr County, said at a news conference that “we do not have a warning system” and that “we didn’t know this flood was coming.”
Here is what else to know:
— Search for the missing: Downed power lines, flooded roads and spotty mobile phone service were among the challenges rescue workers in Texas were facing Friday as they searched for survivors.
— Federal help: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has activated the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help search for the missing, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the agency, said in a post on the social platform X, formerly called Twitter.
— Camp Mystic: The Christian summer camp for girls on the Guadalupe River is nearly a century old. Its facilities include a recreation hall that was constructed in the 1920s from local cypress trees.
— Past flooding: For those old enough to have lived through it, the flooding Friday surfaced memories of a deadly swelling of the waters along the Guadalupe River on July 17, 1987.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Many of the dead and missing were girls from Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas. Desperate parents posted photographs of their children online, seeking any information, and others went to reunification centres to try to find missing loved ones.
Hundreds of emergency personnel were searching for stranded people. The Texas National Guard made 237 rescues and evacuations, said Maj Gen Thomas M Suelzer, commander of the guard, which used helicopters and rescue swimmers to reach people.
Gov Greg Abbott said rescue crews would work throughout the night. He also signed an emergency disaster declaration encompassing several counties in central Texas. That will expedite state funding for the areas that experienced significant damage.
Lt Gov Dan Patrick said Camp Mystic was contacting the parents of campers who remain unaccounted for. He said that parents with children who had not heard from camp officials should assume their children were safe. The camp has some 750 campers, he said.
The flooded Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Friday. (Photo: New York Times)
The flooding seemed to take many by surprise. Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in Kerr County, said at a news conference that “we do not have a warning system” and that “we didn’t know this flood was coming.”
Here is what else to know:
— Search for the missing: Downed power lines, flooded roads and spotty mobile phone service were among the challenges rescue workers in Texas were facing Friday as they searched for survivors.
— Federal help: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has activated the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help search for the missing, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the agency, said in a post on the social platform X, formerly called Twitter.
— Camp Mystic: The Christian summer camp for girls on the Guadalupe River is nearly a century old. Its facilities include a recreation hall that was constructed in the 1920s from local cypress trees.
— Past flooding: For those old enough to have lived through it, the flooding Friday surfaced memories of a deadly swelling of the waters along the Guadalupe River on July 17, 1987.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
