The death toll from flooding in Texas rises to 82, while at least 41 people remain missing.
Among the dead are at least 28 children, including girls who were staying at a summer camp by the river.
BarcelonaThe death toll from the flooding caused by the flash flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas, United States, continues to rise, reaching at least 82 people, according to the latest official report Sunday night. Among the fatalities are 28 children, as detailed in a press conference by Larry Leitha, the sheriff of Kerr County, one of the hardest hit counties. He detailed that ten girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic summer camp are still missing.
In Kerr County, 68 deaths have been reported, while there are 12 more in other areas of the state. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has reported that at least 41 missing people have been identified and that rescue efforts are ongoing, but it is feared that the death toll could rise in the coming hours. "We're seeing bodies recovered all over the place, up and down the county," said Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville, the county's largest city. "We've divided it into grids so we can recover these bodies," he added.
Emergency crews rescued more than 850 people from areas near the river, which swelled its banks due to heavy rains that have affected the area since Thursday night and continued into Sunday, with scattered thunderstorms bringing more showers to the Guadalupe River watershed.
According to the New York Times, the phones of Kerrville residents issued an emergency alert at 3 p.m. local time on Sunday regarding a "high probability of river flooding" in the same area that was severely affected on Friday. "Move to higher ground immediately," the message read, affecting the hundreds of people searching for survivors.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has warned that flash flooding remains a danger in parts of the state in the coming days, as "more heavy rains" are expected. He said that for now, "nothing of the magnitude seen in Kerrville is expected," but that the threat persists because the area is already saturated with water.
Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old Christian camp in the town of Hunt, was home to a total of 750 girls. Camp directors had to request emergency air assistance from authorities due to the rising river and reported that many participants had not been reached and that some cabins at the camp had been flooded and possibly washed away.
"The camp is completely destroyed," 13-year-old Elinor Lester, who was staying at Camp Mystic, told the Associated Press. "A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was truly horrifying," she said.
Abbott has called the flooding an "extraordinary catastrophe" and signed an emergency declaration that gives rescue teams access to all necessary resources. After visiting Camp Mystic, she described it as "terribly devastated, in a way I've never seen in any natural disaster." "We're not going to stop until we find every single girl who was in those cabins," she added.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management and other agencies have deployed 14 helicopters, 12 drones, and 1,000 rescue personnel. And Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has activated the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help search for the missing.
President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County to ensure first responders immediately have the resources they need. "These families are suffering an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost and many still missing," Trump wrote on social media.
Flash and extreme flooding
The U.S. Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency in several locations in Kerr County, about 100 kilometers northwest of San Antonio, Thursday night. That night, more than 300 liters per square meter of rainfall accumulated in the Hunt area, where Camp Mystic is located, and the Guadalupe River rose 8 meters in just 45 minutes, sweeping away homes and vehicles.
State emergency management officials had warned Thursday that West and Central Texas would experience heavy rains and threats of flash flooding in the coming days, citing forecasts from the Federal Weather Service. But as the hours pass, voices grow louder, warning that the camp and others in the area did not receive adequate warning or make the necessary preparations to prevent the tragedy. Texas Division of Emergency Management Director Nim Kidd justified his actions Friday night by stating that the weather forecasts in question "did not predict the amount of rain" that actually fell.
The situation reminds residents of this area, which is accustomed to flooding, of a similar tragedy in July 1987, when ten teenagers died at a Christian camp in the town of Comfort, which also suffered significant damage this time.