Days after torrential rain triggered catastrophic flash flooding across central Texas, the death toll has risen to 81 people, including 28 children. Forty-one people remain missing, including 10 girls who were attending an all-girls Christian camp over the weekend.
As officials continue to track the ongoing tragedy, search and rescue teams including volunteers and national crews have been arriving on horseback, boats, golf carts and trucks to save those still stranded around the Guadalupe River, which surged more than six metres in less than two hours during the July Fourth holiday.
Emergency responders including family members and bystanders have been muscling through the debris on foot to save hundreds of people as operations continue into a third day.
During a news conference on Saturday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that over 850 people have been rescued, including some who were “clinging to trees to save their lives.”
Governor Abbott said that heavy rain over the next 24 to 48 hours could cause more flash flooding, telling residents: “If you’re in any of those areas, you need to realise you’re in an area that is already saturated with water.”
“But for another, when more water comes down, it could lead to rapid flash flooding events.”
Governor Abbott said that while the state has now expanded its rescue efforts, the town of Kerrville remains a priority — an hours north of San Antonio. The town has been dubbed “flash flood alley” for years according to one local meteorologist.
“We’re in Austin today as opposed to Kerrville because of deadly storms have swept across central Texas and areas outside of the Kerrville area and because of more expected storms that will pose life-threatening danger,” Abbott said.
“I want to emphasise, however, even though we now are broadening the area that we’re focused on, we are not at all reducing our focus on Kerrville,” saying the city remains “a key focus in so many different ways. We continue 24/7 operations to search for anybody who was affected by that deadly storm.”
“My instruction to every state agency involved in this is to assume everybody who is missing is alive,” he said during a news conference on Saturday. “And there is a need for speed – not just every hour. Every minute counts, which is why there’s people in the air, people in the water, people on the ground right now because they are looking to save every last life. And we will not give up that effort.”
Abbott also called for people to pray for Texas. “All we know is that prayer does work,” he said. “Prayer matters and we thank God almighty. God has blessed Texas and will continue to bless our great state.”
10 girls remain missing
Twenty miles west of Kerrville in Kerr County, 10 girls and one counsellor remain missing after massive flooding ripped apart buildings and cabins where 750 children were attending a private nondenominational Christian summer camp for girls called Camp Mystic.
The girls camp, which was founded in 1926, takes place alongside the Guadalupe River. According to an announcement from the camp, “most of those who were on camp at the time have been accounted for and are on high ground.”
Sadly, the floods have taken the lives of at least four young campers, with their families confirming their deaths to CNN. The victims include 8-year old Renee Smajstrla, 9-year old Janie Hunt, 8-year old Sarah Marsh and her best friend Lila Bonner.
Alabama Senator Katie Britt posted a tribute to Sarah Marsh on social media, saying she was “heartbroken.”
“We are keeping her family in our thoughts and prayers during this unimaginable time,” Britt said on Facebook.
In a statement, the family of Lila Bonner wrote: “In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time. We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly for others to be spared from this tragic loss.”
Mother of one of the missing girls, Hadley Hanna, is still holding out hope to be reunited with her 8-year-old daughter.
“She is the most joyful, happy kid with a smile on her face,” Hanna’s mother said. “She seemed to be loving camp. This was her first year.”
On Friday, Acting Governor Dan Patrick promised the families of the missing campers they would “do everything humanly possible to find” their children.
“Twenty-four-seven, looking at every tree, turning over every rock, whatever it takes – if your child is one of those truly missing and not just out of touch – to find your daughter,” Patrick said.
“I’m asking the people of Texas to do some serious praying this afternoon — on your knees kind of praying — that we find these young girls and that they’re only unaccounted for because they’re somewhere that we don’t know yet but that they’re alive and safe. If they’re alive and safe, we will find them and bring them home to you, so please pray for these families tonight.”
On Saturday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott visited the site of the all-girls retreat, describing the scene as “horrendously ravaged.”
“Today I visited Camp Mystic,” Abbott said on social media. “It, and the river running beside it, were horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I’ve seen in any natural disaster. The height the rushing water reached to the top of cabins was shocking. We won’t stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins.”
Co-owner and camp director, Jane Ragsdale was among the deceased. According to the camp’s website, Ragsdale was the “heart and soul” of the organisation and had “influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful.
“We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened by Jane’s death,” a statement read. “She embodied the spirit of Heart O’ the Hills and was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop with the girls entrusted to us each summer.”
Questions have been raised as to why the camps were situated so close to the river, and why flood warnings did not reach campsites or prompt evacuation of the area.
Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy acknowledged the devastation but urged people not to start pointing the finger at anyone.
“The response is going to be, ‘We’ve gotta move all these camps – why would you have camps down here by the water?'” Roy said. “Well, you have camps by the water because it’s by the water. You have camps near the river because it’s a beautiful and wonderful place to be.”
Sisters Blair and Brooke Harber, who were 13- and 11-years-old, were with their grandparents when the torrential flooding hit. Both girls have died, according to their father who confirmed their deaths to CNN.
“(Blair) was a gifted student and had a generous kind heart,” RJ Harber said. “(Brooke) was like a light in any room, people gravitated to her and she made them laugh and enjoy the moment.”
Harber believes his parents have also died.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump avoided questions about the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday, just hours after he signed off on an major emergency declaration directing federal resources to Texas.
He has previously called for the Agency to be defunded and eliminated, saying his administration wishes to “wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down to the state level.”
“A governor should be able to handle it, and frankly, if they can’t handle it, the aftermath, then maybe they shouldn’t be governor,” he said last month.
Over the weekend, he told reporters, “FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now they’re busy working so we’ll leave it at that,” adding that he plans to visit Texas on Friday.
“We wanted to leave a little time,” he said on Sunday night. “I would have done it today, but we’d just be in their way.”
The NFL Foundation have announced a US$1.5 million donation to the flood rescue efforts, to “provide both immediate assistance and long-term resources to those most impacted by the catastrophic flooding,” the NFL said in a Sunday post on X.
The Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans are both committing US$500,000.
On X, the Texans team said: “We will continue to support the search, rescue and recovery efforts in the coming weeks,” while the Cowboys said they are “standing side by side with The Salvation Army’s critical response.”
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