The crew searched the darkness early on Saturday, searching for 20 children from the girls’ camp after ramming down the rivers of Texas Hill Country amid a powerful storm that killed at least 24 people. The death toll has certainly risen.
Destructive fast water along the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet (8 meters) just 45 minutes before dawn on Friday, washing away homes and cars. The dangers were not over as heavy rain was expected on Saturday, and flash flood warnings and flood clocks remained in effect in parts of central Texas.
Searchers used helicopters and drones to search for victims and save those stuck. The total number of missing people was unknown, but one sheriff said that 24 of them were girls attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.
Desperate parents and family posted for photos and information about their missing loved ones.
“The camp has been completely destroyed,” said Elinor Lester, one of Camp Mystic’s hundreds of campers. “The helicopters landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
A violent storm woke up shortly after midnight Friday and when rescuers arrived they tied the ropes for the girl to hold her as the flood slapped her on the legs and walked across the bridge, she said.
At a press conference late Friday, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leesa said 24 people have been confirmed dead. Authorities said about 240 people had been rescued.
The midnight flood on the holiday on July 4th surprised many residents, campers and officials. Officials defended the bad weather and preparations for reaction, but said they had not anticipated such a heavy downpour.
One National Weather Service forecast this week, Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Emergency Management Agency, said this week’s one National Weather Service forecast only 3-6 inches (76-152 mm) of rain.
“It didn’t predict the amount of rain we saw,” he said.
Helicopters, drones used in desperate searches for missing
The gauge on one river near Camp Mystic recorded a 22-foot rise (6.7 meters) in about two hours, said Bob Fogerty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. After recording a level of 29 and a half feet (9 meters), the gauge broke down.
“The water moves so fast, you don’t realize how bad it is until it’s on top of you,” Fogerty said.
On the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, people posted photos of their loved ones and helped them find them.
Texas Lt. Colonel Dan Patrick said at least 400 people were on the ground who were helping out. Rescue squads, helicopters and drones were used, and some people were rescued from trees.
“The Black Wall of Death”
In Ingram, Erin Burgess was woken up to lightning and rain in the middle of the night Friday. Just 20 minutes later, the water was pouring water into her house across the river, she said. She thought she was clung to a tree, waiting for enough water to retreat to climb the hill to her neighbor’s house.
“My son and I were floating on the tree we were hanging over it, my boyfriend and my dog were floating. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said.
Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said:
Matthew Stone, 44, of Carville, said police knocked on the door but he was not warned by phone.
“There were no emergency warnings. There were none,” Stone said. Then there’s the “white wall of death.”
“I was so scared I could die.”
Family members cried and cheered as their loved ones got out of a car loaded with evacuees at the Unified Centre set up in Ingram. The two soldiers were brought with them an older woman who could not descend the ladder. Behind her, a woman clenched the little white dog.
Afterwards, a girl in a white “Camp Mystic” T-shirt and white socks stood in a puddle and sobs into her mother’s arms.
Barry Adelman, 54, said the water thrusts the entire three-storey home, including his 94-year-old grandmother and nine-year-old grandson, into the attic. Before finally retreating, the water began to come from the attic floor.
“I was terrified,” he said. “I looked at my grandson on my face and told him everything was fine, but inside I was so scared I could die.”
“No one knew there was a flood of this kind.”
It was predicted to rain. For at least 30,000 people, the flood clock has been upgraded to overnight warnings.
The lieutenant governor pointed out that potential heavy rain and flooding covers a wide area.
“Everything was done to lift your head that there could be heavy rain, and I don’t know exactly where we’re going to land,” Patrick said. “It was obviously dark last night, and we entered a delicious morning of time, when the storm started to go to zero.”
Judge Rob Kelly, a county elected official, said he “does not have a warning system,” and was asked how people were notified in Kerr County to ensure they could reach safety.
When reporters pushed on why more precautions were not taken, Kelly said: “Relax, no one knew that this kind of flood was coming.”
Popular tourist areas that are prone to flooding
The area is known as a “slash waterway” because of its thin layers of soil in the Hills, said Austin Dixon, CEO of the Texas Hill Country Community Foundation.
“When it rains, the water doesn’t get into the soil,” Dixon said. “It runs down the hill.”
The river tourism industry is an important part of the Hill Country economy. The famous, old-century summer camp brought children from all over the country, Dixon said.
“In general, it’s a very quiet river with very beautiful, clear blue waters that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dixon said.
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