A July Fourth weekend deluge in Texas caused catastrophic flash flooding that has killed at least 89 people.
Camp Mystic in Kerr County says Monday morning that it is “grieving the loss” of 27 campers and counselors as the search continues for victims of the disaster. The flooding sent a wall of water through the century-old summer camp Friday.
The risk of life-threatening flooding was still high in central Texas with more rain on the way.
The Texas Hill Country is home to several summer camps. Searchers there have found the bodies of 75 people, including 27 children. Fourteen other deaths have been reported in other parts of Texas.
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A firefighting crew from Mexico is helping first responders
Jesús Gomez said his team recovered the body of one victim killed in the floods.
“It’s hard, but first responders, we’re a different breed, pretty much,” Gomez said. “It’s a lot of mental health things we need to do, but it’s not the first time we see a dead body.”
Gomez said the search process is difficult, with much of the searching done by hand.
The team is from Acuña, a Mexican border town about 120 miles (193 kilometers) southwest of Kerrville, Texas.
Leavitt blasts criticism that Trump’s budget and staffing cuts contributed to the high death toll
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the local and federal weather services provided sufficient warnings to the Kerr County community before the floods.
“That was an act of God. It’s not the administration’s fault that the flood hit when it did, but there were early and consistent warnings and, again, the National Weather Service did its job,” Leavitt said.
She outlined that on July 3, the NWS office in Austin-San Antonio conducted briefings for local officials and issued a flood watch in the early afternoon.
That was followed by numerous flood warnings on the night of July 3 and in the pre-dawn hours of July 4, giving a lead time of three hours before the flash flood.
In response to a subsequent question about the warnings and why they were issued when people were likely asleep, Leavitt repeated that the offices were fully staffed.
More volunteers arrive at an impromptu recovery site in Center Point
A table with snacks and water sat at the bottom of a hill where cracked dirt and depressed grass marked the landscape toward the Guadalupe River.
It was a bright and sunny 80 degrees (26 degrees Celsius) shortly before 2 p.m. as private citizens from across the state hacked away at mangled trees not yet traversed by official rescue operations.
“I had guys show up at that other site,” said volunteer Terrance Ogden, referring to authorities cutting off entry from private individuals in Kerrville. “They got told ‘Go to Center Point.’”
Nebraska is sending a 45-member search and rescue team to help
The group, which includes two canine teams as well as boats and vehicles, was expected to arrive in San Antonio on Tuesday morning and remain in Texas for up to 14 days.
“The team we are sending has the training necessary for dealing with these kinds of disaster environments and will be able to expedite the search efforts that continue to take place,” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said in a statement.
Florida’s governor is sending water rescue crews to Texas
“Texas has helped us when we’ve had different issues throughout the years,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference. “And we’re happy to step up.”
DeSantis said it’s unfair to politicize the initial response to the unpredictably destructive storm and flooding.
“Mother Nature, especially the water, we see that in Florida with storm surge, it can be really, really nasty,” DeSantis said. “And this was a biblical flood. It was much more than what I think they anticipated.”
White House won’t say if Texas flooding will delay Trump’s plans to scrap FEMA
Asked if Trump may delay his promise to close FEMA and leave disaster response up to the states, Leavitt said, “The president has always said he wants states to do as much as they can.”
She added that Texas officials are doing a “tremendous job” in response to the flooding.
Pressed in a subsequent question about phasing out FEMA, Leavitt said she’d already answered the question — even though she hadn’t.
Twin sisters, 8, were among those killed at Camp Mystic
Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence of Dallas had just finished second grade, their parents said.
“Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others,” John and Lacy Lawrence said in a statement. “We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them. But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time. “
David Lawrence, the girls’ grandfather and former publisher of the Miami Herald, said “it has been an unimaginable time for all of us.” He said the girls gave their family, including their sister, joy.
“They and that joy can never be forgotten,” he said in a statement.
Trump to tour flood-devasted Texas later this week
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the president will be visiting the devastating flooding “later this week.”
She called what happened a “once in a generation national disaster” and urged “everyone in the area to remain vigilant, listen to all warnings and respond accordingly.”
Leavitt said the visit would likely come Friday, but that no final decision had been made.
She also bristled at suggestions that deep Trump administration cuts to federal services may have affected authorities’ response to the flooding.
She blamed Democrats and said that faulting “President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie” and insisted that the National Weather Service “did its job” in spreading warnings about possible catastrophic funding.
Tavia Hunt, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, mourns the loss of lives
In a post on Instagram, Hunt mourned the loss of so many lives, “including a precious little Hunt cousin, along with several friend’s little girls.” She did not provide the victims’ names.
Volunteers start their own search after being turned away
After being turned away from rescue efforts near Kerriville, the volunteers launched their own search in Center Point about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away from the most severe flooding.
“This morning, we showed up and basically the government has taken our site and the civilians working in there,” said Cord Shiflet, one of the civilian volunteers spearheading the effort.
About 150 people are hacking through flattened and muddy brush and combing through debris near the Guadalupe River, according to Shiflet.
Louisiana has sent 14 rescue workers to Texas to help
“Louisiana stands with Texas, and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to assist in their recovery,” Gov. Jeff Landry said.
Rep. August Pfluger says 2 of his daughters were evacuated from Camp Mystic
“The last day has brought unimaginable grief to many families and we mourn with them as well as holding out hope for survivors,” the Texas Republican wrote over the weekend.
A staffer in his office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Donations and volunteers are being directed to local groups
Those wanting to support relief and recovery efforts should donate to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, officials said during a news conference.
The nonprofit’s website says it will “direct funds to vetted organizations providing rescue, relief and recovery efforts.”
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice and Mayor Joe Herring said that while there was a continued need for volunteers, those looking to help should first register with the Kerrville Salvation Army.
“We need focused and coordinated volunteers, not random people showing up and doing what they do,” said Herring.
Moisture powered the storm from many directions
The warm water of the Gulf fueled the moist atmosphere, and even more moisture came from areas over the Pacific Ocean to the west.
Remnants of moisture from Tropical Storm Barry also lingered over Texas because the jet stream, a current of air that moves weather patterns, wasn’t there to push it away.
The combination gave the storm plenty of fuel once it got started.
Meteorologists said that an atmosphere warmed by human-caused climate change can hold more moisture and allow bad storms to dump more rain, though it’s hard to connect specific storms to a warming planet so soon after they occur.
A Camp Mystic nurse captured the escape in a series of TikTok videos
A video posted by Devon Paige shows girls on a bus singing the lyrics to “Pass It On,” a Christian hymn written by Kurt Kaiser.
“I wish for you, my friend,” they chant, their bus rolling past toppled trees, and a rescue vehicle, flashers on. “This happiness that I’ve found.”
As the bus passes a National Guard Jeep, the terrified chorus sings, “I’ll shout it from the mountaintop.” In unison, they shout, “Praise God.”
The Mexican consulate in San Antonio is helping 30 Mexican people affected by the floods
Most of those requesting assistance needed help replacing their passports, President Claudia Sheinbaum said. Nine people asked for help to return to Mexico.
Sheinbaum said proudly that two Mexican girls helped to rescue other girls.
She said that the consulate is “in constant communication with the families, and when weather conditions permit, they will visit the shelters.”
Cruz says recent cuts to FEMA and the National Weather Service didn’t impact late warnings
“This is not a time for partisan finger-pointing and attacks,” the Republican senator said. “There will be a time to find out what could have been done differently. My hope is, in time, we learn some lessons to implement the next time there is a flood.”
Sen. Ted Cruz says he picked up his daughter from a camp in the area just a week ago
Cruz said the situation in Kerr County is “every parent’s nightmare.”
“The pain and agony of not knowing your children’s whereabouts is the worst thing imaginable,” Cruz said during a news conference with local officials.
Kerr County’s death toll rises to 75
The bodies of 27 children are among those that have been recovered, officials said during a news conference.
Ten campers and one counselor remain missing, officials said.
Officials had previously said the death toll in Kerr County was 68. Ten other deaths have been reported in other parts of Texas.
Forecasters issue a flood watch for San Antonio and Austin
Slow-moving, heavy rainfall is expected to reach up to 4 additional inches, the National Weather Service said.
The flood watch lasts through 7 p.m. local time.
Officials to hold a news conference on the search and rescue effort
The 10 a.m. Central news conference will be the first official update since Camp Mystic officials confirmed early this morning that they lost 27 campers and counselors when a wall of water swept through the campground in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July.
The floods were at their worst when many people were asleep
The Texas Hill Country in the central part of the state is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up.
Friday’s flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the dark, early morning hours.
▶ What to know about the flash floods
Officials face scrutiny over flash flood warnings
Survivors have described the floods as a “pitch black wall of death” and said they received no emergency warnings.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who lives along the Guadalupe River, said Saturday that “ nobody saw this coming.” Various officials have referred to it as a “100-year-flood,” meaning that the water levels were highly unlikely based on the historical record.
And records behind those statistics don’t always account for human-caused climate change.
Additionally, officials have come under scrutiny about why residents and youth summer camps along the river were not alerted sooner than 4 a.m. or told to evacuate.
Officials noted that the public can grow weary from too many flooding alerts or forecasts that turn out to be minor.
Kerr County officials said they had presented a proposal for a more robust flood warning system, similar to a tornado warning system, but that members of the public reeled at the cost.
Search and rescue teams are heading back out to look for flood victims
Organizers at a staging area in Center Point said more than 1,000 volunteers have been directed to the area about 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Kerrville, and more are being sent.
The Associated Press
