At least 81 people have been confirmed dead and 41 others remain missing following devastating flash floods that struck central Texas on Friday, with Kerr County suffering the heaviest losses.
Authorities say 68 of the fatalities, including 28 children, occurred in Kerr County, where a Christian girls’ camp, Camp Mystic, was engulfed by rising waters from the Guadalupe River. Ten girls and one camp counsellor are still unaccounted for.
Other casualties include five deaths in Travis County, three in Burnet County, two each in Williamson and Kendall counties, and one in Tom Green County. Officials warn that the figures are rapidly changing as emergency crews continue search and recovery operations.
In Kerr County alone, 18 adults and 10 children recovered from the floodwaters have not yet been formally identified.
Rescue teams, facing challenging conditions including mud, debris, and venomous snakes, are now bracing for another round of storms expected within the next 24 to 48 hours — a development that could further hamper efforts to find the missing.
Three days after the floods, the massive search-and-rescue mission — one of the largest in recent Texas history — is gradually transitioning into a recovery operation.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who toured the disaster zone over the weekend, pledged full commitment to the operation. “It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through,” he said. “We will stop at nothing to bring every missing person home.”
The catastrophe unfolded rapidly in the early hours of Friday morning as the Guadalupe River surged 26 feet in just 45 minutes, catching many campers off guard while they were still asleep. Among the dead are several young campers and Camp Mystic’s long-time director, Richard “Dick” Eastland.
A major focus of the search continues to be around the camp, located on the banks of the river and now severely damaged. Greg Froelick, a former Navy SEAL volunteering with the rescue group 300 Justice, told the BBC that some victims had been found as far as eight miles downstream.
“We’re seeing clothing and items from the camp’s dressers scattered up and down the river,” he said, painting a grim picture of the aftermath.
There remains uncertainty over how many other individuals were camping near the river to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend and how many may have been swept away by the sudden deluge.
The two-lane highway that runs alongside the Guadalupe River and connects the city of Kerrville to Camp Mystic now bears the marks of the disaster. Damaged homes lie amidst fallen trees, overturned furniture, broken fences, and downed utility lines — signs of a community left reeling from nature’s wrath.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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