At Least 24 Dead, More Than 20 Children Missing in Catastrophic Texas Floods

First responders in Ingram, Texas, scanned the flooded Guadalupe River on Friday.

At least 24 people were killed and more than 20 children were missing from a girls summer camp after torrential rain caused widespread flooding in parts of central Texas.

Several victims, both children and adults, were recovered from cars and in water, authorities said. More rain fell later Friday in some of the worst-hit areas and other parts of Texas, officials said.

“It’s going to be a massive casualty event,” said Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

More than 230 people were rescued or evacuated by Friday night, officials said.

Anywhere from 23 to 25 children were missing from Camp Mystic, authorities said.  The Christian girls camp is located in Hunt, Texas, along the Guadalupe River, where pounding rain caused the water to swell some 26 feet in 45 minutes.

The raging Guadalupe River swept up trees and debris on Friday in Kerrville, Texas.

Wade Lytal said Friday evening his daughter Kellyanne was among the missing girls. “Just ask for prayers,” he said in a brief phone interview. Kellyanne’s picture was one of several posted on Facebook by friends and family seeking help finding them. She is wearing a Camp Mystic nametag and T-shirt.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said about 500 rescuers were on the ground to conduct searches. They would work overnight, and in the coming days, until everyone was found, he said. Weather conditions initially had made it hard for helicopters to fly overhead, he said.

“That does not mean they’ve been lost,” Patrick said about the missing children. “They could be in a tree, they could be out of communication. We’re praying for all of those missing to be found alive.”

Camp Mystic has about 750 campers, according to Patrick. A note from Camp Mystic sent to parents said it had notified all the families whose daughters were unaccounted for. The camp said it has no electricity, water or internet.

“The highway has washed away so we are struggling to get more help,” the note said.

Charlotte Garrett of Houston said she rushed to the camp Friday to help find her missing niece, 9-year-old Molly DeWitt. Because of closed roads, she and other families were staying in an elementary school 12 miles away in Ingram, Texas, waiting for updates. Names of those found were announced over a speaker in the school’s gymnasium, Garrett said.

“I’m going back and forth between hopeful and strong,” she said, “and really sad and thinking the worst.”

After hours of waiting, Crystal Moreau got word Friday evening that her daughter Emma, a Camp Mystic counselor, was safe, although they hadn’t been able to speak yet. “Oh my gosh, just praising Jesus,” she said. She said Emma, a recent Louisiana Tech University graduate, taught swimming and tennis at the camp, which is close-knit, like a family. “A lot of the campers, they’ll go there 10-plus years.”

Established in 1926, Camp Mystic is nestled among cypress, live oak and pecan trees and has been run by generations of the same family for decades, according to its website.  The camp is known for pulling in affluent families from Houston, Dallas and out of state, and notable alumni reportedly include the daughters and granddaughters of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was from Texas.

Several other children’s camps dot the Guadalupe River, but no others have reported missing children, authorities said. Vista Camps, which runs two camps in the area, said in a social-media post that campers weren’t on site during the floods and that staffers were safe.

The worst of the rain hit around 4 a.m. Friday, with some areas getting 12 inches or more in an hour, Patrick, the lieutenant governor, said.

A man surveyed damage left by flooding along the Guadalupe River in Kerrville.

Gov. Greg Abbott called the flooding an “extraordinary catastrophe” during a news conference late Friday. He said more resources were being deployed.

The brunt of the deadly flash flooding occurred in Texas Hill Country, around the Guadalupe River basin. Kerr County, which includes Kerrville, Texas, a city about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio, as well as the cities of Ingram and Hunt, was one of the epicenters of the flooding. Comfort, Texas, downstream from Kerrville, also saw major flooding and evacuations and road closures.

Police and fire departments evacuated Kerrville residents in flooded areas. A local Walmart store was used to reunite family members. A reunification center was also set up in Ingram.

Kerrville’s annual Fourth of July fireworks display, which brought 20,000 people last year along the Guadalupe River, was canceled.

The hilly terrain meant the heavy water had nowhere to go, said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. It overflowed rivers and other bodies of water.

Helicopters were deployed in rescue operations Friday in Kerrville.

“It will take some time for water to recede,” he said.

In San Angelo, Texas, a city about 150 miles north of Kerrville, more than a foot of rain fell where totals for the entire year usually reach 21 inches, Kleebauer said.

“Half a year’s worth of rain fell in less than 12 hours,” he said. “It’s just a catastrophic situation all around for that area.”

The Guadalupe River has seen deadly flooding before. A series of thunderstorms that began late on July 16, 1987, brought 5 to 10 inches of rain to the area, causing a massive flood wave that traveled through Kerrville, Ingram and Comfort the following day. Ten teenagers attending a church camp died in the flood.