GUADALUPE RIVER: Torrential rains unleashed deadly flash floods along the Guadalupe River in south-central Texas on Friday, killing at least 13 people and leaving nearly two-dozen girls reported missing from a riverfront summer camp, local authorities said.
The US National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for parts of Kerr County, located in Texas Hill Country, about 105 km northwest of San Antonio, following thunderstorms with heavy downpours that dumped as much as a foot of rain.
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Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerville, the county seat, told reporters the extreme flooding struck before dawn with little or no warning, precluding authorities from issuing advance evacuation orders as the Guadalupe swiftly rose above major flood stage.
“This happened very quickly, over a very short period of time that could not be predicted, even with radar,” Rice said. “This happened within less than a two-hour span.”
July Fourth fireworks displays were cancelled in flood-stricken communities throughout the region, including Kerville, where the waterfront site for Friday night’s planned US Independence Day celebration was submerged by the rain-swollen river.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told reporters that 13 people were found dead from flooding in the area, adding, “I think there will be more when this thing is over.”
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said at an earlier news briefing that six to 10 bodies of adults and children had been found, some in cars washed downstream.
He also said authorities were searching for 23 girls listed as unaccounted for among more than 700 children at several summer camp sites near the banks of the Guadalupe River when the site was inundated by floodwaters at around 4 a.m. local time.
“We’re praying for all those missing to be found alive,” Patrick said.
It was not clear whether anyone unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls, might have ended up among the deceased victims tallied countywide by the sheriff.
Otherwise, all other campers were safe, authorities said, but the campers could not immediately be evacuated because roads were made impassable by high waters. Camp Mystic’s director said in a message read to reporters that the facility’s power, water and internet service also had been cut off.
“Everybody is doing everything in their power to get these kids out,” Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top local elected official, said at a news briefing on the disaster hours earlier.
Kelly said a number of scattered residential subdivisions, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds were hit hard.
Pressed by reporters why more precautions were not taken with stormy weather in the forecast, Kelly insisted a disaster of such magnitude was unforeseen.
“We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States,” he said, adding, “We had no reason to believe this was going to be anything like what’s happened here. None whatsoever.”
Patrick said the Guadalupe River had risen 8 m in 45 minutes amid heavy showers soaking the region. Search teams were flying 14 helicopters and a dozen drones over the area, in addition to hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground conducting rescues from trees and swift-flowing water.
The Llano River flowing through adjacent Mason County was also reported running at flood stage, posing “a life-threatening situation,” the weather service reported.
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With additional rain forecast in the region, Patrick warned that an ongoing threat for possible flash flooding extended from San Antonio to Waco for the next 24 to 48 hours.
Personnel from the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were activated to assist local authorities in confronting the crisis, officials said.