By Berenice Garcia, Jessica Shuran Yu and Carlos Nogueras Ramos, Graphics by Chris Essig and Edison Wu
Texas Tribune
Search and rescue efforts continued Sunday morning for 10 missing girls and one counselor from Camp Mystic, a Christian camp for young girls at the center of the catastrophic floods that swept the Texas Hill Country, local officials said at a news conference.
At least 68 people were killed by the flooding in Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha said. At least 11 additional deaths were confirmed in surrounding counties, pushing the storm's overall toll to at least 79. That surpassed the estimated 68 deaths directly caused by Hurricane Harvey in southeast Texas in 2017.
More than 400 first responders from over 20 agencies were on the ground combing the area Sunday, Leitha said.
Among the dead in Kerr County were 28 children and 30 adults.
"We have increased our number of personnel who are navigating the really challenging shores along the bank line, but we're continuing to make progress," said Dalton Rice, city manager of Kerrville.
Friends and families posted desperate messages online seeking help locating the missing campers. Many more people could still be unaccounted for, officials warned, noting that visitors to the area for the July 4th weekend make it difficult to assess an exact number of people unaccounted for.
"We will be relentless in going after and assuring that we locate every single person who's been a victim of this flooding event," Gov. Greg Abbott said during a news conference held earlier in the day with state and federal officials.
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Abbott said he visited Camp Mystic the previous day and saw the aftermath of the flood's devastation.
"It was nothing short of horrific to see what those young children went through," he said. "We know that parents and families, they want information, they want closure, and we want them to know that we are working as swiftly as possible to get them accurate information that will provide that closure."
Colonel Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said officials expect the death toll to rise between Sunday and Monday.
Abbott expanded the disaster declaration he issued Friday night to include Bexar, Burnet, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Travis and Williamson counties given continued rain and ongoing flooding. And on Sunday, President Donald Trump approved Abbott's request for a federal disaster declaration, making Kerr County eligible for federal aid. The move opens up grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals recover from the effects of the disaster.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Saturday said that the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Border Patrol had already been involved in rescue efforts while U.S. Customs and Border Protection were assisting with coordination.
In the span of 36 hours, first responders have rescued more than 850 people, some clinging to trees to stay safe amid the rising water, Abbott said.
In response to criticisms of the warning provided by National Weather Service ahead of the flood, Noem said upgrading their technology was among the reforms Trump sought to make at the department.
However, the agency has been dealing with staffing shortages after cuts by the Trump administration led to nearly 600 layoffs and retirements. Whether those cuts had any effect on the National Weather Service's ability to predict or warn people of the oncoming flood remains an open question. Though, the agency itself said it had adequate staffing.
As floodwaters receded in the Kerrville area, the damage was becoming clear. Dozens of tree trunks were snapped in half, some at 90 degree angles. Black and silver power lines were tangled with branches along the side of the road. A few tree trunks appeared to have been stripped bare of their bark from the rushing water.
At Cross Kingdom Church, Pastor Justin Carpenter started collecting clothing, nonperishable food, toiletries and cat and dog food Friday afternoon. They had reached capacity with donations and were turning other potential helpers away. So far, only about half a dozen people had shown up seeking help. Because the areas most affected has lost cell service, it’s been hard to reach people in need.
“The biggest thing would be to get the word out into the community that we’re here and ready to give everything out,” he said.
Billy Lawrence, a 73-year-old San Angelo man, has dealt with this type of tragedy before. During flooding in the summer of 1987, he spent more than 30 days looking for bodies. The first one he found was of a child in a tree, 20 feet up.
But he said this flood is twice as bad as it was in 1987. On Saturday, he was back patrolling the river for bodies. A former volunteer with the Red Cross, he said he's gotten used to the morbid practice.
“I’m used to death. I’ve been around it a lot," Lawrence said.
He noted there are about 20 camps along the river in this area and said the camp counselors should receive training to check the weather every night.
"I'm not blaming them. They just have to do that,” he said.
Nearly 20 camps are clustered along the Guadalupe River near Kerrville
An early morning flash flood swept through Camp Mystic on July 4. It’s one of nearly 20 camps along the Guadalupe River that serve school-aged children.
President Donald Trump expressed his condolences in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
"Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy," Trump wrote. "Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!"
About 10 inches of rain fell within a few hours, causing flooding along the Guadalupe River which rose 26 feet in 45 minutes.
The death toll in an area historically prone to major flooding has raised questions about whether people near the river, including many vacationers in town for the Fourth of July weekend, received sufficient warning
The private forecasting company AccuWeather and the National Weather Service sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before the devastation.
“These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement that called the Texas Hill Country one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the U.S. because of its terrain and many water crossings.
Local officials defended their actions Friday while saying they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area.
One National Weather Service forecast earlier in the week had called for up to six inches of rain, said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. “It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,” he said.
However, Porter emphasized that people and officials should always take safety precautions when there is a potential for flooding.
"People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast," Porter said. "Flash Flood Warnings indicate an immediate risk to life and property in the warned area."
At the Sunday afternoon news conference, Abbott said local officials in Kerrville faced a tough decision about whether to order residents to evacuate after the flash flood warnings.
"It's a difficult decision about whether or not to begin evacuating people, because if you have a warning telling everybody to evacuate, you could actually lead them to their death," Abbott said. "But we know that some deaths in Kerrville were people ... who got swept away who were trying to evacuate, and so local officials know best about the terrain, the danger spots and things like that."