A desperate search continues in Texas on Saturday for over 20 girls from a children’s camp who are missing amid deadly flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Texas Hill Country. Texas authorities provided a general overview of the disaster in the state on Saturday afternoon, reporting a rise in the death toll to at least 32 fatalities, including 14 children. Several of the deceased have yet to be identified. Many people remain unaccounted for.
Among those still missing are over 20 young girls from an all-girls Christian summer camp, Camp Mystic. The camp is situated in Kerr County, which was hit especially hard by Friday’s flash flood. Parents have been appealing for information about their missing children via social media.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, said officials are “far from having finished the job” of search, rescue, and recovery. “We’re all here knowing that we still have work to do. We’re still prayerful, we’re still hopeful,” Roy said during a press conference on Saturday afternoon.
While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed the state “will be relentless” in its search efforts. “We’re not going to stop today or tomorrow. We will stop when the job is completed,” he said.
Hours earlier, on Saturday morning, Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr. had warned: “People need to know today will be a hard day.”
Rescue teams are using helicopters, drones, and boats to search for victims and reach survivors. A difficult task as, per the authorities, the Guadalupe River rose 26 ft in under an hour on Friday. Though the flood waters are now receding, authorities have said the area is still “very difficult terrain,” especially as debris is washing up.
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Camp Mystic is understood to house older girls on elevated ground known as Senior Hill. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on Friday evening said: “All campers on Senior Hill are accounted for. If your daughter is not accounted for, you have been notified from the camp. If you have not been personally contacted, then your daughter has been accounted for.” He went on to clarify, “That does not mean [the missing children] have been lost. They could be out of communication.”
Patrick read a statement from Camp Mystic, saying it has experienced “catastrophic levels of flooding” and has been left with “no power, water, or wifi.”
“The camp was completely destroyed,” said 13-year-old Elinor Lester, one of the campers at Camp Mystic, according to Associated Press. “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”
Jane Ragsdale, the director and long-time co-owner of Heart O’ the Hills, another camp in the area, lost her life in the flood, according to an announcement the summer camp shared on Saturday.
“We are fortunate that the camp was between sessions when the flooding occurred, so there were no campers in residence. However, our director and the camp’s longtime co-owner, Jane Ragsdale, lost her life. We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened by Jane’s death,” the 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.”
Gov. Abbott said that the flood was “extraordinarily catastrophic” and shared that the state is still in a “search and rescue posture,” looking for those who remain missing, including the girls at Camp Mystic.
On Friday, Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 15 counties in Texas “to ensure counties have access to every tool, strategy, and personnel that the State of Texas can provide to them, which will be limitless.”
The heavy rainfall continued in parts of Texas on Saturday, bringing new flash flood warnings for areas in Travis County, Burnett County, and Williamson County.
On Saturday afternoon, Abbott expanded his disaster declaration to include these counties, as well as three additional counties that are now also being affected by the severe weather. “We will continue to add counties as needed,” Abbott told reporters. “We will ensure that every asset and resource the state has is going to be made available to every county that’s a subject of this disaster declaration.”
Abbott also signed a request for a federal disaster declaration, seeking immediate and ongoing help from the federal government. He thanked President Donald Trump “in advance” for his attention to the matter.
At around 11 a.m., local time, a flash flood warning was issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) for River Road, a route between Canyon Lake and New Braunfels along the Guadalupe River. The NWS urged those in the area to “evacuate immediately” or move to higher ground.
Evacuations are also ongoing along the San Gabriel River at Georgetown South Fork, located about 30 miles north of Austin, which is expected to crest near 30 ft later today.
Trump commented on the floods on Friday, calling the news “shocking” when talking to reporters on Air Force One. When asked about federal aid, Trump said: “We’ll take care of it,” adding that he would work with Abbott.
Trump elaborated on Saturday morning, stating that his Administration is working with state and local officials in response to the “tragic” flooding, and that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem would be assessing the situation on-the-ground in Texas.
“Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy,” Trump said via Truth Social. “Our brave first responders are on site doing what they do best. God bless the families and God bless Texas.”
Noem joined Abbott in a press conference on Saturday afternoon, in which she indicated that Trump would “honor” Abbott’s request for a federal disaster declaration.
“Know that President Trump is absolutely heartbroken by what has happened here in Texas, and the loss of life is absolutely devastating to him and Melania,” Noem told reporters. The number one priority, she said, is “the people,” noting that around 2,000 locals remain without power and that Trump “is absolutely committed to using all the resources at the federal government to help unify families [and try to] rescue all those who are still missing.”
Larry Leitha, Sheriff of Kerr County, said that over 800 people had been evacuated overall.
Rep. Roy told press on Saturday that one of his children’s schoolmates was on a mattress for several hours in the middle of the night after the flood, but has since been reunited with her mom. Roy did not clarify if the child was floating on a mattress in floodwaters or where they had been prior to the flooding.
“Those are the kind of blessings that we should be celebrating, while we’re also mourning the loss of life as we identify those who didn’t make it,” Roy said.
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Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), said Friday that National Weather Service (NWS) advisories and forecasts “did not predict the amount of rain we saw.”
Early Thursday afternoon, the NWS had issued a broad flood watch for parts of south-central Texas, including Kerr County, though the most severe warnings came in the middle of the night and early morning Friday.
