At least 43 people, including 15 children, have been confirmed dead after sudden flash floods swept through central Texas, officials confirmed on Saturday.
Rescue teams are continuing efforts to locate dozens more individuals, including campers, vacationers, and local residents who remain unaccounted for, according to Reuters.
Authorities warned that the death toll is expected to rise as the floods impacted areas beyond Kerr County, the epicenter of the disaster. In Travis County, officials confirmed four fatalities and noted that 13 individuals were still missing. Another death was reported in neighboring Kendall County.
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While some media outlets placed the number of fatalities at 52, Reuters said it had not been able to independently verify that figure.
Emergency responders reported rescuing over 850 people from the flooded region. Some of those rescued had clung to trees to survive the deluge. The flooding followed an intense storm that brought up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rainfall to the area surrounding the Guadalupe River, approximately 85 miles (140 km) northwest of San Antonio.
Among those still missing are 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a summer retreat, according to Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice. “We will not put a number on the other side because we just don’t know,” Rice told reporters at a Saturday evening briefing.
The floods struck rapidly on Friday morning, with river levels soaring to nearly 29 feet (9 meters), far surpassing initial forecasts.”We know that the rivers rise, but nobody saw this coming,” said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly.Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 17 of the deceased, including five children, had not yet been identified.
According to the National Weather Service, the flash flood emergency for Kerr County has mostly passed. The region experienced more than a foot of rain in a short period—about half of what it typically receives in an entire year. A broader flood watch remained in effect until 7 p.m. Saturday.
The impacted region, known as Texas Hill Country, is a rural stretch popular for its rugged landscapes, historic towns, and tourism.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said an unknown number of tourists had traveled to the area to celebrate Independence Day by the river. “We don’t know how many people were in tents on the side, in small trailers by the side, in rented homes by the side,” he told Fox News Live.Camp Mystic, a nearly 100-year-old Christian camp for girls, reportedly had around 700 girls on-site at the time the disaster struck. Patrick said the camp had suffered significant damage.
The aftermath left scenes of ruin at Camp Mystic. Inside one cabin, muddy waterlines climbed six feet up the walls. Beds, mattresses, and personal effects lay strewn and coated with mud. Some structures had shattered windows; one had an entire wall missing.
Nearby, Heart O’ the Hills, another girls’ camp in the region, reported the death of co-owner Jane Ragsdale. No children were present at the time, as the camp was between sessions.In Comfort, a town roughly 40 miles downstream from Camp Mystic, massive trees over 60 feet tall were uprooted and strewn across roads. While major highways connecting San Antonio to the affected zone remained passable, some smaller bridges were badly damaged by floodwaters.
“Complete shock. I’m still in shock today,” said 52-year-old Tonia Fucci, a visitor from Pennsylvania who was staying in Comfort with her grandmother.
“The devastation was such that I’m still in shock today. And with the rescues going on and helicopters, you just know there’s so many missing children and missing people. You just want them to be found for the sake of the families. But, you know, it’s not going to be a good ending. It’s just not going to be. There’s no way people could have survived the swiftness of the water.”
Footage shared online revealed scenes of destruction: bare concrete slabs where houses once stood, heaps of debris piled along the riverbanks, and dramatic rescues where emergency workers retrieved residents from rooftops and trees—sometimes forming human chains to reach those stranded.
President Donald Trump has issued a statement expressing support for those affected. “Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best,” he posted, adding that he and former First Lady Melania were praying for victims and their families.
At a press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced he had requested Trump to issue a disaster declaration to open access to federal aid. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the administration’s commitment to granting that request.
Trump had previously signaled a shift toward placing greater disaster response responsibility on individual states, rather than the federal government.
Noem said a flood watch had been issued on Thursday by the National Weather Service, but it did not adequately predict the scale of the extreme rainfall. She noted that the administration was working to improve forecasting systems.
Rick Spinrad, a former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said the agency’s reduced staffing levels may be compromising its ability to deliver accurate warnings. “People’s ability to prepare for these storms will be compromised. It undoubtedly means that additional lives will be lost and probably more property damage,” he warned.
