KERRVILLE, Texas: Heavy rains have caused devastating flash floods in Texas Hill Country, killing about two dozen people and leaving many others missing.
At a news conference late Friday Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said “about 24” people were dead after least 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain poured down overnight, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.
Authorities said 237 people had been recued so far, including 167 by helicopter.
Among the missing are more than 20 girls from a summer camp. Officials say the death toll may rise as rescue operations continue. The area, known as “flash flood alley,” is prone to sudden flooding due to its thin soil.
“Some are adults, some are children,” Patrick said during a news conference. “Again, we don’t know where those bodies came from.”
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in Kerr County, said authorities were still working to identify those who died.
“Most of them, we don’t know who they are,” Kelly said during a news conference.
Pleading for information after flash flood
On the Kerr County sheriff’s office Facebook page, people pleaded for help finding loved ones and posted pictures of them. Patrick said at least 400 people were on the ground helping in the response. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used in the search, and Patrick said some people were being rescued from trees.
About 23 of the roughly 750 girls attending Camp Mystic were among those who were unaccounted for, Patrick said.
Search crews were doing “whatever we can do to find everyone we can,” he said.
At Hunt, where the Guadalupe forks, a river gauge recorded a 22 foot rise in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. Fogarty said the gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet .
“The water’s moving so fast, you’re not going to recognize how bad it is until it’s on top of you,” Fogarty said.
‘Pitch black wall of death’
In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain at 3:30 a.m. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home directly across from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough so they could walk up the hill to a neighbor’s home.
“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said.
Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: “Thankfully he’s over 6 feet tall. That’s the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him.”
Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors at 5:30 a.m. but that he had received no warning on his phone.
“We got no emergency alert. There was nothing,” Stone said. Then: “a pitch black wall of death.”
Stone said police used his paddle boat to help rescue a neighbor. Stone said he and the rescuers thought they heard someone yelling “help!” from the water but couldn’t see anyone.
At a reunification center set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog.
Later, a girl in a white “Camp Mystic” T-shirt arrived. Standing in white socks in a puddle, she sobbed in her mother’s arms.
‘No one knew this kind of flood was coming’
The forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. But totals in some places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said.
Patrick noted that the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area.
“Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we’re not exactly sure where it’s going to land,” Patrick said. “Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that’s when the storm started to zero in.”
Asked about how people were notified in Kerr County so that they could get to safety, Kelly said, “We do not have a warning system.”
When reporters pushed on why more precautions weren’t taken, he responded: “Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming.”
“We have floods all the time,” he added. “This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”
Popular tourism area prone to flooding
It’s in an area of Texas known as “flash flood alley” because of the hills’ thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster.
“When it rains, water doesn’t soak into the soil,” Dickson said. “It rushes down the hill.”
River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy, said Dickson. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, he said. Between Hunt and Ingram are many river homes and cabins for rent.
“It’s generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.
Deaths in New Jersey blamed on thunderstorms
The flooding in Texas occurred as severe weather moved through central New Jersey, where thunderstorms were blamed for at least three deaths.
Among them were two men in Plainfield who died after a tree fell onto their vehicle, according to a city Facebook post.
The city canceled its July Fourth parade, concert and fireworks show.
