KERVILLE, Texas (AP) — Rescue squads scrutinize the central landscape of the broken trees, covered cars on Saturday, and can find 27 girls, including 27 girls who covered the car cover on Saturday, and the camp was slammed by the walls of the historic flash flood waters.
Floods in Kerr County have killed at least 43 people, including 15 children, and at least eight in nearby counties.
Authorities have not yet said how many people have gone missing beyond the children at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the Kerr County river, where the majority of the deaths have recovered.
Destructive, fast water rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River just 45 minutes before dawn on Friday, washing away homes and cars. The danger wasn’t over as rain continued to slam the community outside San Antonio on Saturday, flash flood warnings and clocks in effect.
Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to search for the victims and rescued them from camps isolated by people left behind in the trees and washed roads.
Gov. Governor Greg Abbott said authorities vowed to work 24 hours a day and new areas are being searched as the water recedes. He declared a Day of Prayer for the nation on Sunday.
“I urge all Texans to join us in prayer this Sunday, for the lost lives, those still missing, for the recovery of our community, and for the safety of those on the frontline,” he said in a statement.
Authorities were under scrutiny to whether camps and residents in areas that have long been vulnerable to floods received appropriate warnings and whether adequate preparations were made.
Hills along the Guadalupe River in central Texas are dotted with camps and campsites for young people of the century where generations of families enjoy swimming and outdoor activities. The area is particularly popular around the holiday on July 4th, making it even more difficult to know how many people are missing.
“At this point, I don’t want to start estimating,” Carville Mayor Dalton Rice said earlier.
A storm raged in the middle of the night hit the camp
“The camp has been completely destroyed,” said 13-year-old Elinor Lester, one of hundreds of campers. “The helicopters landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
The raging storm, fueled by incredible amounts of water, woke up the cabin shortly after midnight on Friday. When rescuers arrived, they tied the ropes for the girl to hold her as water bubbled around her feet and walked across the bridge, she said.
Desperate parents and family posted for photos and information about their missing loved ones.
Among the dead were an eight-year-old girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was at Camp Mystic, and another camp supervisor on the road.
The floods in the middle of the night have surprised many residents, campers and officials.
Accuweather said private forecasting companies and the National Weather Service had sent advance warnings about potential flash flood times.
“These warnings should have provided staff with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and make people safe,” Accuweather said in a statement. It called Hill Country one of the most flash flood-prone regions in the United States due to its terrain and many water intersections.
At the Mo-Ranch camp in the Hunt community, authorities were monitoring the weather and chose to move hundreds of campers and participants to the high altitude at the church youth conference. At nearby camps, Rio Vista and Sierra Vista, organizers said on social media that they were watching the weather the day before Thursday’s second summer session.
Authorities and elected officials say they do not expect such a fierce downpour.
Chip Roy, a district that includes the devastated area, called it a once-in-a-century flood and admitted that there was a second guess and pointing as people search for someone to be responsible.
Helicopters and drones used in desperate searches
“We’re looking wherever possible,” Rice said, the search crew was facing a tough situation.
Officials said more than 850 people have been rescued in the last 36 hours and there have been heroic efforts at camps to save children.
Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem has arrived and pledged to use all available resources for the Trump administration. Coast Guard helicopters and planes were helping to continue operation in the darkness.
One unified centre in the elementary school was almost quiet after taking hundreds of evacuees the day before.
“We’re still here looking for someone we love. We’ve been a little successful, but not so much,” said Bobby Templeton, director of the Ingram Independent School District.
People clung to the tree and ran away to the attic
In Ingram, Erin Burgess was woken up to lightning and rain in the middle of the night. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her house, she said. She described the painful time she was clinging to a tree with her teenage son.
“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.
Barry Adelman said the water thrusts the entire three-storey home, including his 94-year-old grandmother and nine-year-old grandson, into the attic.
“I saw my grandson on the face and told him everything was fine, but inside, it was so scary I could die for him,” he said.
Locals know the location as a “blink waterway.”
“When it rains, the water is not absorbed into the soil,” said Austin Dixon, CEO of the Texas Hill Country Community Foundation, which had collected donations. “It runs down the hill.”
“No one saw this coming.”
The forecast for the weekend was raining. Flood clocks were upgraded to warnings on Friday for at least 30,000 people.
“We know it’s raining. We know the river is rising, but no one saw this coming,” said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s highest elected official.
The county was considering a river flood warning system, similar to the tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, but Kelly said the idea never went down the ground and the cost was an issue.
Kelly said he was heartbroken at the funeral home, looking at the body bag and seeing the devastation on the ground during a helicopter tour.
“Rescue is not only expected, but it is expected. There is time for recovery,” he said. “And that will be a long and rewarding job for us.”
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Cortez reported from Hunt, Texas, and Seawor from Toledo, Ohio. Contributors were Susan Hay of Hartford, Connecticut and Susan Montoya Brian of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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